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Threshold is a private demonstration page. It is not HUD, not a housing authority, and not affiliated with any government agency. Applying for housing assistance is free.
Rental assistance
Six different programs, one door at a time
Rental help is not one queue. It is half a dozen programs with separate applications, waiting lists and offices — and the one everyone has heard of is the hardest to get.
Every limit on this page is set locally, so no national dollar figure would be true for you. We link to the tool that has yours.
The whole map
The six ways rent gets subsidised, and who runs each one
Qualifying for one tells you very little about the others. They have different applications, different waiting lists and, often, different offices — so applying to only the famous one is the most common mistake on this page.
The one most people mean. You find your own place, and the housing authority pays part of the rent to the landlord. You pay about 30% of adjusted income; the voucher covers the rest up to a local standard, and it moves with you.
Who runs it
Your local public housing agency, funded by HUD. There are roughly 3,300 of them and each sets its own waiting-list rules.
The catch
Demand is far beyond supply, so most agencies have long lists and many keep them closed for long stretches.
Tell us your state and we will send the list that applies there
Waiting-list rules, which agencies are open, and the local property directories are all state and county level. A national sheet would be useless, so this one is built around where you actually live.
The part nobody puts on a page like this
The waiting list, told straight
Anyone who has already applied knows this. Pretending otherwise is how a page loses the people it claims to help — so here it is, and then what to do about it.
What actually happens after you apply
Housing authorities are funded for far fewer households than apply to them. When a list grows longer than an agency can ever serve, HUD allows it to close that list rather than take names it cannot reach.
Lists close, and they close without much warning
An agency may open its list for a few days, take applications, and shut it again for a year or more. Missing the window is the single most common reason people never get a place.
Order is not simply first come, first served
Most agencies apply local preferences — for example for households who are homeless, paying more than half their income in rent, veterans, or working. Two people applying the same day can be years apart on the list.
Some agencies use a lottery, not a queue
Where a list is opened by lottery, applying early does nothing at all. Applying at all is what matters, and applying to several agencies matters more.
Nobody can move you up for a fee
There is no paid fast lane, no expedited application and no agency that sells a better position. Anyone offering one is running a scam.
What does help: applying to every agency you are willing to live near rather than only the closest one, applying to project-based and tax-credit properties in parallel because they keep separate lists, and keeping your contact details current — agencies remove people they cannot reach.
3,300+
public housing agencies, each with its own list, rules and opening dates
75%
of newly issued vouchers must by law go to households at or below 30% of the area median income
$0
what it costs to apply, to any of these programs, anywhere in the country
Who qualifies
The limits are local, and they are not a single number
Eligibility is measured against the median income where you live, adjusted for household size. A salary that is comfortably under the limit in one county is over it in the next, which is why no honest page can print one figure.
80%
Low income
Of the area median for your household size. The outer boundary of most HUD programs, though few have vouchers to spare at this level.
50%
Very low income
The usual ceiling for a housing choice voucher. Most agencies do not reach anywhere near this level on their lists.
30%
Extremely low income
Where the law directs the help. Three quarters of newly issued vouchers must go to households at or below this line.
HUD publishes the figures for every county and metro area each year — the FY2026 limits take effect on 1 May 2026. The lookup is free and linked below.
What to do this week
Five steps that are worth doing in this order
Find every agency within reach, not just the nearest
HUD keeps a directory of public housing agencies by state. Most people apply to one. The ones who get housed apply to every agency whose area they would genuinely live in.
Check which lists are open right now
Agencies publish opening dates, and many will notify you. A closed list today may open for four days next month, and that window is the whole game.
Apply to buildings as well as agencies
Project-based and tax-credit properties keep their own lists, entirely separate from the voucher queue, and those lists are often far shorter.
Gather the documents once
Photo ID and Social Security numbers for everyone in the household, proof of income for everyone who has any, and birth certificates. Having these ready is the difference between making a four-day window and missing it.
Keep your contact details current, every time they change
Agencies write to the address on file, and they remove applicants they cannot reach. People lose years of waiting to a change of phone number.
Nobody can sell you a place in line
Housing assistance attracts fee-charging middlemen because the waits are long and people are desperate. Everything below is free from the agency itself.
- There is no fee to apply to a waiting list, anywhere in the country
- No one can move you up a list, expedite an application, or guarantee a voucher
- A housing authority will not ask for payment by gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency
- Application forms are free — paying a site to fill one in buys you nothing
- HUD-approved housing counselling is free, and the counsellors are certified
- If a landlord refuses you because of race, religion, sex, disability, national origin or having children, that is unlawful and reportable
Straight answers
Questions people actually ask
- How long is the wait, really?
- It depends entirely on the agency, and in many places it is measured in years rather than months. Some lists are closed altogether. The honest answer is that no one can tell you a national number, and anyone who quotes you one is guessing.
- Can I apply in more than one place?
- Yes, and you generally should. There is no rule against being on several agencies' lists at once, and because each keeps its own queue, applying widely is the single biggest thing within your control.
- Does a voucher let me move?
- Usually, yes. Housing choice vouchers are portable, so after an initial period in the area that issued yours you can generally move and take it with you, subject to the receiving agency's rules.
- What if a landlord will not take a voucher?
- It depends where you live. A number of states and cities have made it unlawful to refuse a tenant purely because they pay with a voucher; many other places have not. Your local agency or a HUD-approved counsellor can tell you which applies.
- Do I have to be unemployed to qualify?
- No. These programs are aimed at low incomes, not at no income, and a large share of assisted households are working. Some agencies actively give preference to households in work.
- What about right now, this month?
- Emergency rent help is separate from all of this and is run locally — through counties, community action agencies and charities. Dialling 211 or using 211.org is the fastest route to whatever exists in your area today.
Go straight to the source
The official pages, all free
- HUD — Housing Choice VouchersHow the voucher program works, from the agency that funds it.
- Find your public housing agencyThe directory of local agencies, by state.
- HUD income limitsThe actual figures for your county or metro area.
- Free HUD-approved housing counsellingCertified counsellors, at no cost to you.
- Fair housing complaintsIf you have been refused a home for an unlawful reason.
- 211 — local help todayEmergency rent and utility help, run locally rather than by HUD.
One email, then we leave you alone
Take the state list, then go and apply to more than one agency
That is the whole strategy, and it is free. The list is there so you know which doors exist before you start knocking.