California’s latest affordable housing math is in, and it is quietly reshaping who counts as “low income” from Eureka to Escondido. The California Department of Housing and Community Development has finalized its official 2026 State Income Limits, the county-by-county tables that determine who qualifies for deed-restricted affordable housing across the state. Effective May 29, 2026, the new numbers nudge most county medians upward: the statewide four-person median lands around $120,200, the Bay Area still tops the charts with several counties over $200,000, and Los Angeles County’s four-person median climbs into the low $100,000s. For renters, developers and housing counselors, these figures are the backbone for eligibility rules, maximum rents and who can get in the door for many state-funded programs.
The Department filed the 2026 State Income Limits with the Office of Administrative Law on May 29, 2026, officially replacing last year’s tables, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. HCD says the tables build on HUD’s FY 2026 updates and factor in state-level tweaks such as family-size multipliers and a “Hold Harmless” policy that blocks limits from dropping below prior-year figures. The agency has posted its briefing packet and full county tables for local governments, property managers and developers to plug directly into their spreadsheets when they set income bands and calculate affordable rents.
County highlights
In a county-by-county rundown, Urbanize LA notes that the statewide four-person median comes in at $120,200 and that Los Angeles County’s four-person area median income, or AMI, rose to $108,100, up from $106,500 last year. Riverside and San Bernardino both sit at $106,500. Orange County and Ventura County remain higher at $138,600 and $135,600, and the Bay Area continues to dominate the income charts. San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin each land at $200,800, while Santa Clara edges past everyone at $205,500.
How HCD calculates the limits
According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the State Income Limits start with HUD’s FY 2026 median income estimates, then run through several state-specific adjustments. One key rule keeps any county AMI from falling below the non-metropolitan state median. Another is the long-standing “Hold Harmless” policy, which HCD says “adjust any current year decreases to retain higher prior year figures,” a safeguard the agency argues helps preserve and increase the supply of affordable rental housing. The result is that single-year changes are typically modest, but even small bumps can push some households across the line for particular programs and tax-credit projects.
What it means for renters and developers
For renters, these tables are the fine print behind lotteries, waitlists and the “are you eligible?” questions that show up on every affordable housing application. Property managers for income-restricted buildings use the limits to screen applicants, and nonprofit developers and housing finance agencies rely on them to set income bands and rents for tax-credit deals and state-backed projects. If you are hunting for a restricted unit, check a project’s ads or waiting-list notices to see which income band applies, then compare your household size and gross income against Urbanize LA’s county roundup, which links to HCD’s full tables. Agencies and developers with technical questions can follow the contacts and briefing materials in those documents to confirm how the limits apply to their projects.
