State and Federal Income, Rent, and Loan/Value Limits

Income limits, rents, and loan-to-value limits are determined according to each development’s financing and the rules that pertain to that financing. Each of these three sections identifies which limit determination to use under which program. Check with your program contact if you are unsure which limit applies.

HCD’s Multifamily Housing Programs: General (MHP); Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC); California Housing Accelerator (CHAP); Families Moving to Work (FMTW); Governor’s Homeless Initiative (GH); Homeless Youth (HY); Housing for a Healthy California (HHC); Joe Serna, Jr., Farmworker Housing Grant Program (Serna/FWHG); No Place Like Home (NPLH); Portfolio Reinvestment Program (PRP), Supportive Housing (SH); Transit Oriented Development Housing Program (TOD), and Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program (VHHP) use the Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSP) income limits published by HUD to calculate maximum rents and income limits in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects (even if the specific project does not utilize tax credits). Also, projects that were converted under the Housing Loan Conversion Program (HLCP) and restructured under the Loan Portfolio Restructuring Program (LPRP) use these income and rent limits. Below are links to the recent several years' income, rent, and loan limits applicable to these programs for California’s 58 counties.

Please note, Section 3009(a) of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) includes provisions for increases to income limits in areas impacted by the HUD “hold harmless policy.” As a result, HUD published “HERA Special Income Limits” for “HUD Hold Harmless Impacted Projects.” For 2023 these HERA Special limits apply only to projects placed in service prior to January 1, 2009, and located within the following six counties: Marin, Nevada, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma.

The 2023 Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSP) Income Limits should be compared with income limits under which MTSPs are currently operating to see if they are eligible for an increase in income and rent limits. The statutory hold harmless provisions in HERA prevent income and rent limits from falling below the highest levels the project ever achieved. Use the MHP Income and Rent Limit Calculator (XLSM) as a guide to determine the income and rent limits for your project. Please call your AMC Program Representative if you have any questions about these limits.

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 the California Department of Housing and Community Development (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 2023 income limits on May 15, 2023. HCD updated its 2023 State Income Limits (effective June 6, 2023) when requesting the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to publish 2023 Income Limits in the California Code of (Title 25, Section 6932 ).

Note: In 2013, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) implemented a State Hold Harmless Policy as a result of the discontinuation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (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)].

These tables include income limits for three federal programs when administered by HCD: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF). The tables are not intended for use by local jurisdictions that receive these funds directly from HUD.

Income Limits

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the same information for prior years .

HOME Homeownership Value Limits

HOME Maximum Per-Unit Subsidy Limits

Rent Limits

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides the same information for prior years.

For additional information, check the Income Calculation and Determination Guide for Federal Programs.