The Poverty Guidelines API is now available with the 2026 data.

U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines Used to Determine Financial Eligibility for Certain Programs

The 2026 poverty guidelines are published in the Federal Register

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2026 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Persons in family/household Poverty guideline 1 $15,960 2 $21,640 3 $27,320 4 $33,000 5 $38,680 6 $44,360 7 $50,040 8 $55,720 For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $5,680 for each additional person.

2026 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR ALASKA Persons in family/household Poverty guideline 1 $19,950 2 $27,050 3 $34,150 4 $41,250 5 $48,350 6 $55,450 7 $62,550 8 $69,650 For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $7,100 for each additional person.

2026 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR HAWAII Persons in family/household Poverty guideline 1 $18,360 2 $24,890 3 $31,420 4 $37,950 5 $44,480 6 $51,010 7 $57,540 8 $64,070 For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $6,530 for each additional person.

Prior Poverty Guidelines and Federal Register References

A chart with percentages (e.g., 125 percent) of the guidelines ( PDF )

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Poverty Guidelines and Poverty

Further Resources on Poverty Measurement, Poverty Lines, and Their History

ASPE research on poverty

The Census Bureau's Poverty Home Page

About the Poverty Guidelines

The poverty guidelines apply to households, families, and individuals regardless of age. The Census poverty thresholds – used for statistical purposes – are defined differently for people and householders age 65 and older than those under 65. The poverty guidelines have never had this distinction.

Programs using the guidelines (or percentage multiples of the guidelines — for instance, 125 percent or 185 percent of the guidelines) in determining eligibility include Head Start, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch Program, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Note that in general, cash public assistance programs (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income) do NOT use the poverty guidelines in determining eligibility. The Earned Income Tax Credit program also does NOT use the poverty guidelines to determine eligibility. For a more detailed list of programs that do and don’t use the guidelines, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

The poverty guidelines (unlike the Census poverty thresholds) are designated by the year in which they are issued. For instance, the guidelines issued in January 2025 are designated the 2025 poverty guidelines. However, the 2025 HHS poverty guidelines only reflect price changes through calendar year 2024; accordingly, they are approximately equal to the Census Bureau poverty thresholds for calendar year 2024. (The 2024 thresholds are expected to be issued in final form in September 2025; the Census Bureau normally makes available a preliminary version of the thresholds early each calendar year.)

The poverty guidelines may be formally referenced as “the poverty guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2).”

Note for the 2026 Poverty Guidelines

The poverty guidelines are calculated by comparing the average monthly CPI-U for the current year with the average monthly CPI-U from the prior year. Because of the federal government shutdown in October 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for that month. As a result, the calculation of the 2026 poverty guidelines compares the average CPI-U for the 11 available months of 2025 (excluding October) with the average CPI-U for all 12 months of 2024.

Guidelines for Contiguous 48 States, Alaska and Hawaii

The separate poverty guidelines for Alaska and Hawaii reflect Office of Economic Opportunity administrative practice beginning in the 1966-1970 period. Note that the poverty thresholds — the original version of the poverty measure — have never had separate figures for Alaska and Hawaii. The poverty guidelines are not defined for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau. In cases in which a Federal program using the poverty guidelines serves any of those jurisdictions, the Federal office which administers the program is responsible for deciding whether to use the contiguous-states-and-D.C. guidelines for those jurisdictions or to follow some other procedure.

Poverty Guidelines and the Census Poverty Thresholds

There are two different versions of the federal poverty measure: poverty thresholds and poverty guidelines.

The poverty thresholds are the original version of the federal poverty measure. They are updated each year by the Census Bureau . The thresholds are used mainly for statistical purposes — for instance, preparing estimates of the number of Americans in poverty each year. (In other words, all official poverty population figures are calculated using the poverty thresholds, not the guidelines). Poverty thresholds since 1973 (and for selected earlier years) and weighted average poverty thresholds since 1959 are available on the Census Bureau’s Web site. For an example of how the Census Bureau applies the thresholds to a family’s income to determine its poverty status, see “ How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty ” on the Census Bureau’s web site.

The poverty guidelines are the other version of the federal poverty measure. They are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The guidelines are a simplification of the poverty thresholds for use for administrative purposes — for instance, determining financial eligibility for certain federal programs.

The poverty guidelines are sometimes loosely referred to as the “federal poverty level” (FPL), but that phrase is ambiguous and should be avoided, especially in situations (e.g., legislative or administrative) where precision is important.

Key differences between poverty thresholds and poverty guidelines are outlined in a table under Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

The January 2026 poverty guidelines are calculated by taking the 2024 Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds and adjusting them for price changes between 2024 and 2025 using the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The poverty thresholds used by the Census Bureau for statistical purposes are complex and are not composed of standardized increments between family sizes. Since many program officials prefer to use guidelines with uniform increments across family sizes, the poverty guidelines include rounding and standardizing adjustments.

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 10 (Thursday, January 15, 2026)] [Notices] [Pages 1797-1798] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] [FR Doc No: 2026-00755]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary

Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides an update of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines to account for last calendar year's increase in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

DATES: Effective Date: January 13, 2026 unless an office administering a program using the guidelines specifies a different effective date for that particular program.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Room 404E, Humphrey Building, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 20201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about how the guidelines are used or how income is defined in a particular program, contact the Federal, state, or local office that is responsible for that program. For information about poverty figures for immigration forms, the Hill-Burton Uncompensated Services Program, and the number of people in poverty, use the specific telephone numbers and addresses given below. For general questions about the poverty guidelines themselves, visit http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/ or contact Jennifer Burnszynski in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at [email protected] or (202) 690-7858. For information about the percentage multiple of the poverty guidelines to be used on immigration forms such as USCIS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at 1-800-375-5283. You also may visit https://www.uscis.gov/i-864 . For information about the Hill-Burton Uncompensated Services Program (free or reduced-fee health care services at certain hospitals and other facilities for persons meeting eligibility criteria involving the poverty guidelines), visit https://www.hrsa.gov/get-health-care/affordable/hill-burton/index.html . For information about the number of people in poverty, visit the Poverty section of the Census Bureau's website at https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty.html or contact the Census Bureau's Customer Service Center at 1-800-923-8282 (toll-free) or visit https://ask.census.gov for further information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to update the poverty guidelines at least annually, adjusting them on the basis of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The poverty guidelines are used by Medicaid and a number of other Federal programs as a criterion for some or all eligibility determinations. The poverty guidelines issued here are a simplified version of the poverty thresholds that the Census Bureau uses to prepare its estimates of the number of individuals and families in poverty. As required by law, this update is accomplished by increasing the latest published Census Bureau poverty thresholds by the applicable percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The guidelines in this 2026 notice reflect the 2.63 percent price increase between calendar years 2024 and 2025. After updating for inflation, the guidelines are rounded and standardized to establish the same interval between each family size. In rare circumstances, rounding and standardizing in the formula result in small decreases in the poverty guidelines for some household sizes even when the inflation factor is not negative. In cases where the year-to-year change in inflation is not negative and rounding and standardizing in the formula result in reductions to the guidelines from the previous year for some household sizes, the guidelines for

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the affected household sizes are fixed at the prior year's guidelines. As in prior years, these 2026 guidelines are roughly equal to the poverty thresholds for calendar year 2025, which the Census Bureau expects to publish in final form in September 2026. The poverty guidelines continue to be derived from the Census Bureau's current official poverty thresholds; they are not derived from the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The following guideline figures represent annual income.

2026 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poverty Persons in family/household guideline ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1........................................................... $15,960 2........................................................... 21,640 3........................................................... 27,320 4........................................................... 33,000 5........................................................... 38,680 6........................................................... 44,360 7........................................................... 50,040 8........................................................... 55,720 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $5,680 for each additional person.

2026 Poverty Guidelines for Alaska ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poverty Persons in family/household guideline ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1........................................................... $19,950 2........................................................... 27,050 3........................................................... 34,150 4........................................................... 41,250 5........................................................... 48,350 6........................................................... 55,450 7........................................................... 62,550 8........................................................... 69,650 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $7,100 for each additional person.

2026 Poverty Guidelines for Hawaii ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poverty Persons in family/household guideline ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1........................................................... $18,360 2........................................................... 24,890 3........................................................... 31,420 4........................................................... 37,950 5........................................................... 44,480 6........................................................... 51,010 7........................................................... 57,540 8........................................................... 64,070 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $6,530 for each additional person. Separate poverty guideline figures for Alaska and Hawaii reflect Office of Economic Opportunity administrative practice beginning in the 1966-1970 period. (Note that the Census Bureau poverty thresholds--the version of the poverty measure used for statistical purposes--have never had separate figures for Alaska and Hawaii.) The poverty guidelines are not defined for Puerto Rico or other outlying jurisdictions. In cases in which a Federal program using the poverty guidelines serves any of those jurisdictions, the Federal office that administers the program is generally responsible for deciding whether to use the contiguous-states-and-DC guidelines for those jurisdictions or to follow some other procedure. Due to confusing legislative language dating back to 1972, the poverty guidelines sometimes have been mistakenly referred to as the ``OMB'' (Office of Management and Budget) poverty guidelines or poverty line. In fact, OMB has never issued the guidelines; the guidelines are issued each year by the Department of Health and Human Services. The poverty guidelines may be formally referenced as ``the poverty guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2).'' Some federal programs use a percentage multiple of the guidelines (for example, 125 percent or 185 percent of the guidelines), as noted in relevant authorizing legislation or program regulations. Non-Federal organizations that use the poverty guidelines under their own authority in non-Federally-funded activities also may choose to use a percentage multiple of the guidelines. The poverty guidelines do not make a distinction between farm and non-farm families, or between aged and non-aged units. (Only the Census Bureau poverty thresholds have separate figures for aged and non-aged one-person and two-person units.) This notice does not provide definitions of such terms as ``income'' or ``family'' as there is considerable variation of these terms among programs that use the poverty guidelines. The legislation or regulations governing each program define these terms and determine how the program applies the poverty guidelines. In cases where legislation or regulations do not establish these definitions, the entity that administers or funds the program is responsible to define such terms as ``income'' and ``family.'' Therefore, questions such as net or gross income, counted or excluded income, or household size should be directed to the entity that administers or funds the program.

Date: January 13, 2026. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services. [FR Doc. 2026-00755 Filed 1-14-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4150-05-P