Section 8 Rent Calculator

A Section 8 calculator follows HUD's three-step formula: turn annual income into adjusted income with the required deductions, take the highest of four rent floors to get the total tenant payment (TTP), then split the unit's gross rent between you and the voucher. A single parent with two children who earns $24,000 a year and pays $2,400 for child care has a TTP of $514. In a unit renting for $1,350 plus a $150 utility allowance, she pays the owner $364 a month and the housing agency pays $986.

Rent is only part of a household budget. The SNAP Benefits Calculator estimates monthly food assistance, which uses its own net income test and also expects about 30% of net income to go to food. The Rent Affordability Calculator shows what rent fits an income without a voucher, a useful comparison when you weigh a unit above the payment standard.

How Section 8 rent is calculated

Every voucher rent calculation, whether done by a caseworker or by HUD's own software, follows the same chain of formulas. Shown with the 2027 HOTMA amounts:

Gross rent is the rent to the owner plus the agency's utility allowance for utilities you pay yourself. When the gross rent is at or below the payment standard, your family share is simply the TTP. When it is above, your share is the TTP plus the excess. The four floors exist for different families: 30% of adjusted income applies to most; 10% of gross income catches families whose deductions are unusually large; a welfare rent applies only where a state welfare grant names a specific amount for housing; and the minimum rent, which each agency sets between $0 and $50, applies to families with little or no income unless they qualify for a hardship exemption. HUD rounds the result to the nearest dollar.

Adjusted income: the deductions and their 2026-2027 amounts

HUD's deductions are fixed in regulation and, under HOTMA, indexed each January to the consumer price index for wage earners and rounded down to a multiple of $25. Which column applies depends on whether your housing agency already follows HOTMA:

A dependent is any family member other than the head, spouse or co-head who is under 18, has a disability or is a full-time student; foster children do not count. An elderly family is one whose head, co-head, spouse or sole member is 62 or older, and a disabled family is the same with a person with a disability. Medical costs count only for elderly or disabled families, while attendant care and equipment that let a family member with a disability work count for any family, limited to the earnings they make possible. Child care counts when it lets an adult work, look for work or go to school, and care that makes work possible cannot exceed the earnings it supports. Agencies may also adopt extra deductions of their own.

HOTMA and the January 1, 2027 deadline

The Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 rewrote how HUD programs count income. Its rule took effect on January 1, 2024, but software delays pushed back full compliance, and HUD's Notice PIH 2026-15 of May 14, 2026 settled the date: from January 1, 2027, every rent action at a housing agency must follow HOTMA, except at Moving to Work agencies and agencies that rely on HUD's Family Reporting Software. Agencies that run annual reexaminations four months ahead began applying HOTMA policies in September 2026, and some agencies switched earlier.

For tenants the main changes are higher dependent and elderly or disabled deductions, a medical threshold that rises from 3% to 10% of income, a cap on net family assets, an end to new enrollments in the Earned Income Disregard, and new interim reexamination rules. Families who were receiving the medical deduction under the 3% rule on January 1, 2024 get phased-in relief: their threshold starts at 5%, rises to 7.5% after 12 months and reaches 10% after 24 months. The calculator lets you pick any of these thresholds.

Worked example: a single parent with two children

A mother of two earns $24,000 a year and pays $2,400 a year for after-school care. Her agency uses the 2027 HOTMA amounts and a $50 minimum rent. She finds a two-bedroom unit at $1,350 rent to owner, the agency's utility allowance for the electricity she pays is $150, and the payment standard is $1,500.

1. Deductions: two dependents at $525 = $1,050, plus $2,400 of child care = $3,450.
2. Adjusted income: $24,000 − $3,450 = $20,550 a year, or $1,712.50 a month.
3. Floors: 30% of $1,712.50 = $513.75; 10% of $2,000 = $200; minimum rent $50. The highest is $513.75, so the TTP is $514.
4. Gross rent: $1,350 + $150 = $1,500, exactly the payment standard.
5. Subsidy: $1,500 − $514 = $986, paid by the agency to the owner.
6. Her rent: $1,500 − $986 − $150 = $364 to the owner, plus her own electric bill.

Her family share of $514 is 30.0% of adjusted income but only 25.7% of gross income, the effect of the deductions. Because the unit is within the payment standard, the 40% rule does not bind; at lease-up she could have chosen a gross rent of up to $1,671 before her share would pass 40% of adjusted income ($685).

Worked example: an elderly couple with medical bills

A couple in their seventies lives on $21,600 a year of Social Security and pays $3,600 a year for prescriptions, premiums and dental work. They want a one-bedroom unit at $1,175 with a $125 utility allowance; the payment standard is $1,200.

1. Elderly family deduction: $575 under the 2027 amounts.
2. Medical deduction: 10% of $21,600 is $2,160, so $3,600 − $2,160 = $1,440 counts.
3. Adjusted income: $21,600 − $575 − $1,440 = $19,585, or $1,632.08 a month.
4. TTP: 30% of $1,632.08 = $489.63, rounded to $490 (10% of gross is only $180).
5. Subsidy: the gross rent of $1,300 is $100 above the payment standard, so the agency pays $1,200 − $490 = $710.
6. Their rent: family share $1,300 − $710 = $590, so $465 goes to the owner.

At lease-up the 40% limit is $652.83, so the $590 share passes, and the highest gross rent the agency could approve is $1,362 (a $1,237 rent to owner). Under the pre-HOTMA rules the same couple would have a TTP of $456 and pay $431, because the old 3% threshold let $2,952 of medical costs count. If they qualify for phased-in hardship relief, their TTP is $463 at the 5% threshold and $476 at 7.5%.

Tenant rent at different incomes

The table follows a family of three with two dependents and no other deductions under the 2027 HOTMA amounts, in a sample unit with a $1,500 payment standard, $1,350 rent to owner and $150 utility allowance, at an agency with a $50 minimum rent.

Each extra $6,000 of income raises the rent by $150 a month: 30% of the $500 monthly increase. At the bottom, the minimum rent and the utility allowance interact: a family with no income owes a $50 TTP but has a $150 utility allowance, so the owner receives the full $1,350 from the agency and the family gets $100 toward its utility bills. At the top the subsidy shrinks to $26; at about $61,000 a year it reaches zero, and HUD ends the contract automatically 180 days after the last payment. Whether a family at those incomes could have been admitted depends on the area income limits.

Older renters before and after HOTMA

HOTMA helps elderly and disabled families with small medical bills and costs those with large ones. The table shows the TTP for a single renter aged 62 or older with $18,000 a year of income and no other deductions:

With no medical costs the larger elderly deduction saves about $4 a month. Once costs pass $540 (3% of income) the old rules start deducting them, while HOTMA waits until $1,800 (10%), so a renter with $1,800 or more in medical costs pays about $27 a month more under HOTMA. That gap is the reason for the phased-in relief.

Payment standards, utility allowances and the 40% rule

The payment standard is the most your voucher will count toward the gross rent. Each agency sets it for every unit size, usually between 90% and 110% of HUD's fair market rent for the area or of the ZIP-code level Small Area fair market rent where those apply, and the one used for you is the lower of the standard for your voucher size and the one for the unit's bedroom count. It is not a rent cap: you may rent above it and pay the difference, provided the owner's rent is reasonable for the market. HUD updates fair market rents every year on October 1, and the FY2027 figures took effect on October 1, 2026. An agency whose payment standard falls outside 90% to 110% of the new fair market rent must revise it within three months.

The utility allowance comes from the agency's schedule of typical costs for each tenant-paid utility, such as heating, cooking, water heating, electricity, water, sewer and trash, by unit size and type. Telephone and cable or satellite television are never included. If the owner pays all utilities, the allowance is zero and the gross rent equals the rent to owner.

The 40% rule protects families when they move in: if the gross rent is above the payment standard, the family share at initial occupancy may not exceed 40% of adjusted monthly income, and the agency cannot approve a unit that breaks it. It does not apply at later annual reexaminations, so a share can drift above 40% when the owner raises the rent.

Income limits: who can get a voucher

Eligibility depends on income relative to the area median. Most applicants must be very low income, at or below 50% of the area median income for their family size. At least 75% of new admissions each year must be extremely low income, at or below the higher of 30% of the median or the federal poverty guideline, and agencies may admit some low-income families up to 80% in limited cases. HUD publishes these limits for every county and metro area each year on its income limits page; this page does not list area figures because they vary so widely. Enter yours under More options and the calculator will show where your income falls. Eligibility also requires citizenship or eligible immigration status for at least one member, and a waiting list usually comes first.

How to use this calculator

1. Choose the rule set. Use HOTMA 2027 for rent effective in 2027. For 2026, ask your agency whether it already follows HOTMA.
2. Enter annual income for all adult members before taxes, then the number of dependents and whether the head, spouse or co-head is 62 or older or has a disability.
3. Add deductions: child care for children under 13 and, for elderly or disabled families, unreimbursed medical costs.
4. Enter the unit: the payment standard and utility allowance from your agency's schedules and the rent the owner is asking.
5. Check the lease-up box for a new unit, so the calculator applies the 40% test and shows the highest rent you could approve.
6. Open More options for your agency's minimum rent, a welfare rent, disability assistance costs, hardship relief or your area's income limits.

The calculator is written for voucher holders searching for a unit, families on a waiting list who want to know what they would pay, tenants checking a rent notice after a reexamination, landlords who want to understand how the tenant share is set, and caseworkers who need a quick cross-check. Public housing and project-based units use the same total tenant payment, so the TTP figure also applies there.

Key terms

• Annual income: the yearly income of the head, spouse and every member 18 or older, plus unearned income received for children, minus HUD's exclusions.
• Adjusted income: annual income after the mandatory deductions and any extra deductions the agency adopts.
• Total tenant payment (TTP): the minimum the family pays toward gross rent, the highest of the four floors.
• Payment standard: the maximum monthly amount the voucher counts toward gross rent for a unit size.
• Gross rent: rent to owner plus the utility allowance.
• Housing assistance payment (HAP): the subsidy, the lower of the payment standard or gross rent, minus the TTP.
• Family share: gross rent minus the HAP, which is the TTP plus any amount above the payment standard.
• Utility reimbursement: the part of the HAP left over when it exceeds the rent to owner, paid to the family or the utility.

Tips and limitations

• Ask your agency for its payment standard and utility allowance schedules before you search; they decide which units fit your voucher.
• Keep receipts for child care and medical costs. Deductions need verification, and medical costs only count for elderly or disabled families.
• Compare gross rents, not asking rents: a unit with tenant-paid heat carries a larger utility allowance than one with heat included.
• Report income changes on time: an increase you fail to report is charged back to the month after the change, and a decrease only lowers your rent once you report it.
• The calculator does not model income from assets, permissive deductions, Moving to Work rent policies, prorated assistance for families with ineligible members, rent reasonableness or the caps on disability assistance and child care.
• In March 2026 HUD proposed letting agencies adopt work requirements and term limits. The proposal does not change the rent formula, and the calculator does not model it.

Related calculators

• For monthly food assistance, use the SNAP Benefits Calculator.
• For the earned income credit, which HUD does not count as income, use the EITC Calculator.
• To see what rent fits your income without a voucher, use the Rent Affordability Calculator.
• To build a monthly plan around your tenant share, use the Budget Calculator.
• To prorate the first month's rent for a mid-month move-in, use the Pro Rata Calculator.
• To weigh renting against buying later on, use the Rent vs. Buy Calculator.

Sources

• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 24 CFR 5.611 (adjusted income), 24 CFR 5.628 (total tenant payment) and 24 CFR 5.630 (minimum rent).
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 24 CFR 982.503 (payment standards), 24 CFR 982.505 (housing assistance payment), 24 CFR 982.508 (40% limit), 24 CFR 982.516 (reexaminations) and 24 CFR 982.201 (eligibility and targeting).
• HUD User, 2026 HUD Inflation-Adjusted Values and 2027 HUD Inflation-Adjusted Values (deductions and asset limits).
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Notice PIH 2026-15 (HOTMA compliance from January 1, 2027) and Housing Choice Voucher Tenants.
• HUD User, Income Limits and Fair Market Rents.
• Federal Register, Federally Mandated Exclusions From Income (January 31, 2024) and proposed rule on work requirements and term limits (March 2, 2026).