Methodology, updates and corrections

Income limits (MTSP)

Source: HUD's FY2026 Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project income limits, MTSP-Data-FY26.xlsx for the 50% and 60% limits and MTSP-IncAvg-Data-FY26.xlsx for the 20% to 80% income averaging levels, both dated March 27, 2026 (HUD USER). One record per county, or per town in New England: 4,764 areas. Where a town carries a different FIPS code in the two files, the records are matched by state, county and town name. HERA Special limits are shown only where HUD lists them. We use HUD's numbers as published and do not round or adjust them.

Maximum rents

Gross rent limits follow IRS Publication 5913 and IRC 42(g)(2): 30% of the income limit for the unit's imputed household size (1 person for a studio, 1.5 people per bedroom), divided by 12. When the imputed size is not a whole number (1.5, 4.5, 7.5 people) we average the two neighboring limits. The result is rounded down to the dollar. The limit is gross rent, so it includes the utility allowance; the tenant's share is the limit minus the allowance. Income averaging rents use HUD's 20% to 80% limits the same way.

QCT and DDA checks

Source: HUD's 2027 designations (FR Doc. 2026-20390, October 6, 2026), from QCT2027.csv and "2027 DDAs: Data Used to Designate": 14,539 qualified census tracts, 2,657 metropolitan Small DDA ZCTAs and 286 nonmetropolitan DDA counties. They govern allocations and bond issues after December 31, 2026. HUD's map layers labeled "2026" hold the same tracts and areas, so they are not used separately.

The address lookup sends the typed address to the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder (current benchmark, 2020 tracts and ZCTAs) and matches the returned tract against the QCT list, the ZCTA against the Small DDA list and the county against the nonmetro DDA list. The address is not stored.

ZIP vs ZCTA. HUD draws metro DDAs by ZIP Code Tabulation Area, the Census Bureau's area approximation of a ZIP code. A ZCTA usually shares its number with the ZIP, but the boundaries differ and some ZIPs have no ZCTA. The tool shows the ZCTA the geocoder found and flags a mismatch with the typed ZIP. A point near a tract line can also land on the wrong side. Confirm any result you will rely on in an application with HUD's own map and the allocating agency.

Property records

Source: HUD's national LIHTC database, LIHTCPUB (revised May 28, 2026; projects placed in service through 2024), read with HUD's 2024 data dictionary (HUD USER). We count properties three ways, and label each:

• Every record in HUD's file: 55,345 projects.
• Still monitored: 42,673 properties, after dropping those the allocating agency flagged as no longer monitored and HUD's test and demo records. State pages and county totals use this count.
• On this site's city pages: 32,252 properties in 1,920 cities with at least five monitored properties, after merging HUD records that repeat one property at the same address and unit count.

Names. HUD's names are upper case and abbreviated. We convert them to title case and expand only abbreviations whose meaning is unambiguous in a property name (Apts to Apartments, Hsg to Housing, Ctr to Center, Ph II to Phase II, Sr before Apartments or Housing to Senior). "St", "Mt" and unknown acronyms are left as HUD wrote them, and the property page also shows HUD's own spelling. Addresses drop a trailing unit or suite number. Owner and contact fields are not published, and any email, web address or phone number in a published field is stripped; the build fails if one remains.

Compliance and extended use years. From HUD's placed-in-service year (Y): the 15-year compliance period runs from Y to about Y + 14, or one year later if the owner elected to start the credit period the next year (IRC 42(f)(1), 42(i)(1)). For credits allocated after 1989, the extended use agreement keeps units restricted for at least 30 years in all, so to Y + 29 at the earliest (IRC 42(h)(6)); many agencies require longer. These are estimates from HUD's record. The recorded agreement governs.

State credit ceilings and bond caps

For 2026, each state's 9% ceiling (population amount) is the greater of $3.416 times its population or $3,953,600, and its private activity bond cap is the greater of $135 times population or $397,625,000 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32 secs. 4.08 and 4.19; the 9% amounts already include the 12% increase from Pub. L. 119-21 sec. 70422(a)). Populations are from IRS Notice 2026-22. Insular areas smaller than the least populous state get a bond cap of population times $397,625,000 divided by Wyoming's population (IRC 146(d)(4)). We compute these and round to the dollar; an agency's own figure also adds carryforwards, returned credits and any national pool share, so it can be higher.

Applicable percentages

The monthly 70% and 30% present value rates come from the IRS revenue ruling for each month, Table 4, January 2024 (Rev. Rul. 2024-2) to November 2026 (Rev. Rul. 2026-21), 35 months, each linked to its ruling. The fixed 9% floor (IRC 42(b)(2)) and 4% floor (IRC 42(b)(3)) are shown beside them; the floors are higher than every computed rate in the table.

Equity pricing

Medians are the net equity price per dollar of federal credit, all deal types, from CohnReznick's Tax Credit Advisor Housing Tax Credit Monitor, the main public survey: 12 readings from Sep to Oct 2024 to Jun to Jul 2026. We list only figures printed in the monitor PDFs, each linked to its issue. Where an issue says only "the last 60 days", the period is placed by the order of surveys in the monitor's own trend chart and marked. Fund ranges are offering ranges from the same monitors, not closed deals. Deal-level and state-level pricing is not public, so we do not estimate it.

Calculators

Each tool shows its formula and sources on its page. Tool results are estimates for planning, not tax or legal advice. The tool math is checked against worked examples before each release.

Downloads

The CSV and JSON downloads are built from the same files as the pages, on every build:

From the downloads manifest, /data/downloads/manifest.json.

Refresh schedule

HUD publishes new MTSP limits each spring, new QCT and DDA lists each fall and a new LIHTCPUB release about once a year; the site is rebuilt from each new release, and the update log below records when. The IRS rate table adds each monthly revenue ruling after it is published. State agency and QAP links are rechecked when the site is rebuilt.

Update log

Corrections policy

If you find an error, email hello@lihtc.loans with the page address and, if you can, the source that shows the right figure. We check every report against the primary source. When a page is wrong we fix it, change that page's "updated" date (and only that page's), and add the fix to the log below. When a report turns out to be a difference in source or method, we say so on the page if it would help other readers.

Corrections log

See also: data sources and dates and about LIHTC Atlas.