Section 8 Rent Calculator
Menu

Independent calculator. Not HUD and not a housing authority.

Housing Choice Voucher

Section 8 rent calculator

Section 8 rent is not always 30% of income. You pay the highest of 30% of adjusted monthly income, 10% of gross monthly income, welfare rent or the minimum rent (up to $50), plus any rent above the payment standard. The voucher pays the rest.

Worked example: what each side pays

A $1,250 lease with a $150 utility allowance has a gross rent of $1,400. The payment standard is $1,300 and total tenant payment (TTP) is $420, 30% of $1,400 adjusted monthly income. The voucher pays the lower of standard and gross rent minus TTP: $1,300 − $420 = $880.

You pay the owner
$370
Voucher pays the owner
$880
Owner receives
$1,250

With utilities you pay $520: your TTP plus the $100 by which gross rent exceeds the standard. At move-in that may not exceed 40% of adjusted income ($560), so this unit passes. Compare three more units, then enter your PHA’s figures below.

Work out your voucher rent split

Your case
How will you enter your share?
Which lease is this?
The unit
Monthly rent on the lease.
From your housing authority, not your bills.
Your housing authority’s amount, not a HUD fair market rent.
Your household
Whole dollars, from your rent notice.
Needed for the 40% move-in test.

Monthly rent split

Enter your figures to see who pays what.

You pay the owner
—
plus Voucher pays the owner
—
equals Owner receives
—

How the split works

For a NYCHA standard tenant-based case, use the NYCHA rent calculator with the confirmed 2026 NYCHA payment schedules. NYCHA public housing rent uses a different determination.

Look up FY2027 HUD rents by ZIP code

Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) are HUD references. A ZIP value is not an approved rent or a PHA payment standard. Confirm whether your agency uses SAFMRs, which area applies and its effective schedule.

Source: HUD FY2027 SAFMR workbook. All 51,871 ZIP-area records in this lookup were checked against the HUD workbook on October 3, 2026. FY2027 takes effect October 1 subject to HUD reevaluation exceptions; a PHA schedule can have a different effective date.

What the calculator needs

Find the family share, rent paid to your landlord and housing assistance for a standard tenant-based voucher. Enter your housing authority’s payment standard, utility allowance and income figures.

Use prepared PHA amounts for a standard tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher. This worksheet does not determine eligibility, approve rent, or calculate special housing, project-based vouchers, MTW alternative rules or prorated immigration assistance.

Match each input to your PHA paperwork · How much assistance pays toward a unit

Local HUD rents and housing agencies by state and DC

Each state page includes the published FY2027 county or town reference rows and HUD-listed Section 8 or Combined agencies. These references help locate the right agency and schedule; they do not substitute for its payment standard.

Beside each name: the average monthly amount voucher households there paid toward rent and utilities on December 31, 2025, from HUD’s Picture of Subsidized Households.

Related worksheets

Compare voucher and actual-unit bedroom standards. Reconcile PHA-approved income deductions. Review formulas and a worked rent example.

Published · Reviewed · Editorial Team