Official State Income Limits for 2025 (Effective April 23, 2025) | California Department of Housing and Community Development

California State Income Limits apply to State and local affordable housing programs statutorily linked to HUD income limits and differ from income limits applicable to other specific federal, State, or local programs. Health and Safety Code (H&SC) Section 50093 require HCD to publish updated State Income Limits for acutely low, extremely low, very low, low, and moderate-income categories when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) updates its Section 8 program income limits. HUD released updated FY 2025 income limits on April 1, 2025. HCD updated its 2025 State Income Limits (effective April 23, 2025) when requesting the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to publish 2025 Income Limits in the California Code of Regulations (Title 25, Section 6932 ).

Note: In 2013, HCD implemented a State Hold Harmless Policy as a result of the discontinuation of HUD’s long-standing Hold Harmless Policy in 2009. The purpose of HUD’s former Hold Harmless policy was to not allow decreases to county area median income (AMI) and household size income limit figures when annually updating Section 8 income limits.

HCD’s Hold Harmless policy, identical to HUD’s former policy, applies to State and local affordable housing programs statutorily linked to HUD income limits. HCD implements its Hold Harmless Policy upon receipt of HUD’s annual update of Section 8 Program Income Limits and adjusts any current year decreases to retain higher prior year figures.

The State’s Hold Harmless policy supports objectives to preserve and increase the supply of affordable rental housing. Availability of affordable rental housing benefits a broad public and households with different income levels served by affordable housing providers required to comply with Health and Safety Code (H&SC) income limits and affordable rent criteria [H&SC 50093(c)].