Section 8 · Voucher amounts
How much does Section 8 pay?
FY2026 Housing Choice Voucher payment standards by county and bedroom count: how HUD's Fair Market Rent turns into what you actually receive as a landlord.
The three numbers in every Section 8 rent
The contract rent you agree with the tenant, the payment standard the PHA sets (90% to 110% of the county FMR), and the tenant’s share (30% of their monthly adjusted income, minus a utility allowance). Your HAP payment is payment standard minus tenant share, capped at contract rent. When a tenant’s income rises, their share climbs and the HAP shrinks; the contract rent does not change.
What FY2026 FMR actually looks like
FY2026 FMRs are the first set computed fully off the 2024 ACS cycle plus trend factors, and HUD requested roughly 5.5% more HAP funding to cover them. Non-metro counties sit mostly in the $700–$1,000 range for a 2-bedroom; large coastal metros are $2,200 and up. Small Area FMRs replace the county figure in about 100 metro areas and can differ by $400 or more between ZIPs in the same county.
FY2026 amounts by state
Select a state for its county-by-county payment-standard lookup.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.
Frequently asked questions
Is the payment standard what I actually receive?
Not exactly. You receive payment standard minus the tenant's 30%-of-income share, and that payment is capped at the contract rent. The payment standard is the ceiling for the subsidy, and the tenant pays from their share up to the contract rent.
Do utilities count in the voucher amount?
Separately. The PHA gives the tenant a utility allowance which comes out of their share, so a unit with tenant-paid utilities nets the tenant less money, not more voucher. If your unit has utilities included, the gross-to-net math shifts in your favor when the PHA compares offers.
When do FY2026 amounts take effect?
PHAs adopt new payment standards on their own calendar after HUD publishes the FMR (usually effective October-December of the fiscal year). The current FMR on your county page is the FY2026 published figure; the PHA's adopted standard may lag by a quarter.
Can the PHA pay more than FMR?
Up to 110% of FMR without HUD approval, and higher for specific neighborhoods with HUD approval (exception payment standards). Asking rents above the standard push the difference to the tenant, whose total share is capped (the tenant is not supposed to pay more than 40% of adjusted income at initial lease-up).
Get Section 8 inquiries handled for you
Tenanture replies to voucher-holding applicants, checks your published criteria, answers their deposit and paperwork questions, and hands qualified applicants to your team. Section 8 is usually the highest-volume inquiry type for voucher-friendly listings; stop triaging it by hand.