Public Housing: How to Apply and How Rent Works

1Why this matters

For many households, public housing is the most affordable stable home available: rent rises and falls with income, and there is no landlord deciding whether to accept a voucher. But getting in can take years, the rules differ from Section 8 in ways that matter, and keeping the unit means meeting obligations most tenants never face in the private market. This guide explains eligibility, how rent is worked out with the 2026 figures, how to apply and what living in public housing requires. Vouchers are covered in our guide to Section 8 housing assistance.

2Who is eligible for public housing?

The housing agency decides eligibility using your expected annual gross income, your household, and your citizenship or eligible immigration status.

• Income: up to 80 percent of the area median income, which HUD calls low income, with limits set for each area and household size.
• Targeting: at least 40 percent of the families admitted each year must have extremely low incomes, generally at or below 30 percent of the median or the poverty line if that is higher.
• Status: at least one member must be a citizen or have eligible immigration status; a mixed-status family pays a prorated rent.
• Assets: under a 2016 law put into effect since 2024, families with net assets above $105,574 in 2026, or who own a home they could live in, generally cannot be admitted.
• Screening: agencies check rental history and certain criminal activity under their own policies, within federal rules.

Agencies may give preference to groups such as working families, older adults, people with disabilities, veterans or people who are homeless, and some buildings are set aside for older adults or people with disabilities.

3How is rent calculated?

Rent in public housing is based on income, not on a market price. Your total tenant payment is the highest of:

• 30 percent of your adjusted monthly income;
• 10 percent of your gross monthly income;
• a welfare rent, in the few states where part of a cash assistance grant is designated for housing; or
• the agency's minimum rent, which it sets between $0 and $50.

Adjusted income is gross income less allowances: in 2026, $500 a year for each dependent, $550 once per family if the head, spouse or co-head is 62 or older or has a disability, out-of-pocket medical costs of an older or disabled family above 10 percent of income, and reasonable child care costs that let someone work or study. If you pay your own utilities, the agency subtracts a utility allowance from the rent you pay.

Want to see what this could mean for your situation? Estimate your housing assistance with our free calculator, which works out your expected rent share from your income and household.

4Worked examples

5Flat rent and what happens when income rises

Each year the agency must offer a choice between income-based rent and a flat rent, set at no less than 80 percent of the area's fair market rent for the unit. Flat rent helps households whose income has grown, because it does not rise with every raise. A family that chooses it can switch back to income-based rent if a hardship occurs.

There is also an upper limit on staying. If your income stays above 120 percent of the area median for two years in a row, the agency must either charge a higher alternative rent or end your tenancy, depending on its policy. This rule is meant to free units for families on the waiting list.

6How to apply

Contact the public housing agency where you want to live; HUD's directory lists them, and its information line at (800) 955-2232 can help. The application asks for the names and birth dates of household members, your current address, and your income, assets and family details. Many agencies take applications online only while their waiting list is open. When your name comes up you will need birth certificates and Social Security cards for household members, photo identification, proof of income and assets, and sometimes landlord references.

Waiting lists are often long, and some open for only a few days. You can apply to several agencies at once, and to Section 8 lists as well, since the programs have separate lists. Ask each how it ranks applicants, which preferences it uses and how to keep your place, and update your contact details whenever they change: an agency that cannot reach you can remove you from the list.

7Other affordable rentals to apply for

Public housing is only one kind of subsidized rental. Many privately owned buildings also receive HUD assistance, and in most of them rent is based on income in a similar way. Each property keeps its own waiting list, so you apply at the property's office rather than to the housing agency. HUD's online resource locator lists assisted properties by area, and applying to several at once is the usual way to shorten the wait.

8Living in public housing

When a unit is offered, you sign a lease, pay a security deposit of no more than one month's rent or a fixed amount the agency sets, and attend a briefing on the rules. Your income and household are reviewed at least once a year, units are inspected regularly, and you must report changes as the lease requires.

• Community service: each adult who is not exempt must do eight hours a month of community service or self-sufficiency activity. People 62 and older, people with disabilities, those working, and several other groups are exempt.
• Smoke-free rules: smoking is banned inside public housing units and near buildings.
• Pets: residents may keep common household pets under the agency's rules, and assistance animals are allowed as a reasonable accommodation.

Tenants have rights too: decent, safe and sanitary housing, timely repairs, a grievance procedure for disputes, and protection from eviction except for causes stated in the lease. If you receive an eviction notice, read our guide to what to do first when facing eviction.

Transfers and moving

Unlike a voucher, a public housing unit does not move with you to another city. You can ask your agency for a transfer to another of its units when your household grows or shrinks, for a medical need or disability, or in an emergency such as domestic violence, for which federal law requires agencies to have an emergency transfer plan. To move elsewhere, you apply to that area's agency and join its list.

9Common mistakes

• Applying only once, to one agency, and waiting. Apply to several agencies and to privately owned assisted properties as well.
• Missing a letter that asks you to confirm your interest in staying on the list.
• Not reporting income or household changes the lease requires, which can lead to back rent or eviction.
• Not asking for the flat rent when income has risen.
• Assuming the community service rule does not apply without checking your exemption.

11What this does not tell you

Each housing agency sets its own admission policies, preferences, minimum rent, flat rents and waiting list rules within federal limits, so what applies to you depends on the agency.

This guide does not cover privately owned apartments with federal subsidies, which take applications at each property. Our calculator estimates a rent share; it cannot tell you whether a unit is available.