Housing assistance October 2026 · 11 min read

Housing help · Section 8

The Section 8 waitlist averages 27 months, and 10 to 62 depending on where you apply

HUD data show the wait for a Section 8 voucher runs from 10 months to 62 months by state. Here is how the list is ordered, how to stay on it, and what to do while you wait.

By Vincent Wesley Couey · Compiled and verified 24 October 2026 · How we check programs

Short answer: households that got a Section 8 voucher had waited 27 months on average nationwide, according to HUD's 2025 data, but the average is 10 months in West Virginia and Wyoming and 62 months in Maryland. While you wait, apply to more than one housing agency, keep your contact details current so you are not removed, and use 211 and LIHEAP for rent and energy bills.

Lattice finding · HUD Picture of Subsidized Households, 2025 data

Where you apply changes a Section 8 wait by a factor of 6.2: Maryland's average is 62 months and Wyoming's is 10, and 7 places (Maryland, New Hampshire, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey) average three years or more, covering 444,504 of the 2,297,464 occupied vouchers in the 50 reporting jurisdictions (19.3%).

Method: we queried the Picture of Subsidized Households tool for Housing Choice Vouchers at state level, 2025 data (page revised 17 February 2026), and read the fields "Average months on waiting list" and "# Occupied Units" for each row. Alaska reports no wait (the table shows -1) and is excluded, leaving 50 jurisdictions with DC. 62 / 10 = 6.2. The seven places at 36 months or more hold MD 53,027, NY 247,467, NJ 80,124, CT 39,936, RI 9,154, DE 4,510 and NH 10,286 occupied vouchers, which sum to 444,504. 444,504 / 2,297,464 = 19.3%. Another 17 places sit between 24 and 35 months, so 24 of 50 average two years or more. HUD's average counts only households that were admitted, so it understates the wait for people still on a list.

27months, U.S. average wait of admitted households

23months, median of 50 jurisdictions

10 to 62months, shortest (WV, WY) to longest (MD)

83%of 2,797,793 voucher units were occupied

How long is the Section 8 waiting list in 2026?

The Section 8 waiting list averages 27 months nationwide for households that have been admitted, and 10 to 62 months depending on the state. HUD's Picture of Subsidized Households reports 2,797,793 Housing Choice Voucher units available in its 2025 data, with 2,334,114 occupied (83%), and only 7% of occupied units had moved in during the past year. That turnover is the supply: roughly 163,000 households a year (7% of 2,334,114, from a rounded percentage) are admitted into a program that, as HUD notes, has "long waiting lists" in many places.

The table below turns the averages into dates for someone applying on 24 October 2026. It is arithmetic on HUD's published averages, not a promise from any agency.

If you applied on 24 October 2026 and waited the average
Where you apply	Average wait (HUD, 2025)	Date the average reaches you
Wyoming or West Virginia	10 months	August 2027
Kentucky	13 months	November 2027
The median of 50 jurisdictions	23 months	September 2028
United States	27 months	January 2029
New York	40 months	February 2030
Maryland	62 months	December 2031

Where 50 jurisdictions sit on the Section 8 waitone dot = one state or DC, average months on the waiting list

HUD USER, Picture of Subsidized Households, 2025 data, Housing Choice Vouchers, state level, field "Average months on waiting list", read 24 October 2026. Alaska reports no value and is left out; DC is included. The median is the middle of the 50 values (23 and 23 at ranks 25 and 26). The figure averages households that were admitted, so it excludes everyone still waiting.

The spread is not a coin toss by state size. Texas (21 months, 150,345 occupied vouchers) and California (26 months, 316,630) sit near the middle, while New York, with 247,467 occupied vouchers, averages 40 months. Small states split both ways: Wyoming is shortest at 10 months and New Hampshire second longest at 52. Averages also hide the agency level; HUD's tool can break each figure down by public housing agency, and two agencies in one state can differ widely.

What to do while you wait for Section 8

Households admitted to Section 8 had waited 27 months on average in HUD's 2025 data (HUD USER), so the useful question is what to do in those months. These steps cost nothing:

Join more lists. HUD says you may need to apply to multiple Public Housing Agency waitlists and need not live in an agency's area to apply; find agencies in HUD's public housing contacts directory.
Keep your place. Report address, phone and household changes, because HUD says failing to do so may get you removed (HUD); under 24 CFR 982.204(c) an agency may remove applicants who do not answer its requests.
Ask about public housing and project-based lists. HUD says you apply for public housing through your local housing authority and that preferences affect your place in line, so ask which lists are open now.
Dial 211 for local rent, utility and food help while your name moves up.
Apply for energy bill help. ACF's LIHEAP page sends you to Energyhelp.us or the National Energy Assistance Referral line at 1-866-674-6327.
If you are working, ask whether your employer or an app offers earned wage access: it lets you draw part of the pay you have already earned before payday. It is not a loan; check the fee before you use it.

How a Section 8 waiting list orders applicants

A Section 8 waiting list orders applicants by the agency's preferences first and by application time or lottery second. The federal rules fix the guardrails and leave the rest to each agency's administrative plan:

When the average wait would reach you if you applied on 24 October 2026worked example: apply date plus the HUD average for admitted households

An illustration, not a forecast. Dates are 24 October 2026 plus the average months on the waiting list that HUD reports for households already admitted (Picture of Subsidized Households, 2025 data, read 24 October 2026). Your own wait depends on your agency's preferences, its funding and how many people are ahead of you.

How a housing agency turns applications into admissionswhat 24 CFR part 982 fixes, and what the agency chooses

Built from 24 CFR 982.206, 982.207, 982.204 and 982.201 on the eCFR (up to date as of 20 October 2026), read 24 October 2026.

Preferences. 24 CFR 982.207 lets an agency create local preferences "based on local housing needs" in its plan. It names optional preferences for working families, for people with disabilities and for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking. A working-family preference must still be given to a family whose head and spouse, or sole member, is 62 or older or has a disability.
Ties. Among applicants with the same preference status, the agency may use "date and time of application" or "a drawing or other random choice technique," which is why some agencies run lotteries.
No jumping the line for income or size. The agency "must not select families" out of order "for the purpose of selecting higher income families" (982.207(d)), and under 982.204(d) the order may not depend on family size.
Targeting. 24 CFR 982.201(b)(2) requires that "not less than 75 percent" of the families admitted from the list each fiscal year be extremely low income, so a very low income helps you.

Open and closed Section 8 waiting lists

A Section 8 waiting list is open only when the housing agency has announced it, and an agency may close the list once it has enough applicants for its funding. Under 24 CFR 982.206, when an agency opens a list it must "give public notice" that families may apply, and the notice "must state where and when to apply." If the list is open, the agency must accept applications from the families it is open to unless there is good cause. Once the existing list holds "an adequate pool" for the funding, the agency may stop accepting applications.

USA.gov's Section 8 page adds the practical step: check your local agency's website for reopening dates and check back, because dates change. An agency may also limit who can apply when it opens, and the notice must state that limit.

Keeping your place on the Section 8 list

You keep your place on a Section 8 list by answering every letter and telling the agency when your contact details change. HUD's voucher page warns that failing to update address, phone or household size may result in removal from the waitlist. The federal rule in 24 CFR 982.204(c) lets an agency remove applicants who do not answer requests, and it protects applicants with disabilities: if the missed response was because of the disability, "the PHA must reinstate the applicant in the family's former position on the waiting list."

Waitlist check-in: what to say and what to keep

CALL OR EMAIL YOUR HOUSING AGENCY "My name is ____. I applied on ____ (date) for the Housing Choice Voucher waiting list. Please confirm that I am still on the list, tell me my current status, and confirm that you have my current address, phone and household size. Which preferences are recorded on my application? Which other waiting lists, such as public housing, are open now? How will you contact me, and how long do I have to answer?" KEEP IN ONE FOLDER - Confirmation number or letter with your application date - Every notice from the agency, with the date it arrived - Photo ID, Social Security cards, proof of income and bank statements - Proof of any preference (disability, work, residency, domestic violence) - A note of each call: date, name, what was said

Section 8 waiting list scams

Anyone who asks you to pay to join a Section 8 waiting list is not a housing agency. The FTC's consumer alert on Section 8 scammers says there is no fee to register for a Section 8 waiting list, that housing authorities do not charge fees, and that they do not contact people by phone or email to push them onto a list. Fake look-alike sites collect fees and personal data; the FTC advises contacting your real housing authority, which you can find through HUD. For energy help, ACF says LIHEAP does not charge a fee for receiving a benefit and gives the HHS Fraud Hotline at 1-800-447-8477 for messages that ask for one.

Raising your odds and your income during the wait

Your odds rise with the number of lists you are on and the preferences you can document, and your finances improve if the wait is used to build income. Sister Lattice guides cover the second part: EduBracket's free online courses guide lists no-cost ways to add skills, and its career change courses guide compares paths for people moving to higher-paying work. Remember that a rising income can change which preferences and income limits apply to you, so report it to your agency as it asks.

What to do, by situation

If you live inA 36-month-plus placeApply to agencies in shorter-wait places too, because HUD allows applying to multiple lists and the averages range from 10 to 62 months.
If the list isClosedCheck the agency's site for the opening notice, because an open list requires public notice of where and when to apply.
If you have aDisabilityAsk for a reasonable accommodation if you missed a letter, because the agency must restore your place when the miss was caused by the disability.
If you areWorkingAsk whether the agency has a working-family preference, since the rule allows one.
If rent or power isDue nowDial 211 and apply for LIHEAP, because the waiting list cannot cover this month's bill.

📬 Get our free housing assistance checklist (PDF): programs, documents and agencies to contact while you wait

All 50 reporting jurisdictions, longest wait first

Housing Choice Vouchers, HUD 2025 data, state level, read 24 October 2026 (HUD USER)
State	Average months on waiting list	Occupied voucher units	Moved in past year
Maryland	62	53,027	9%
New Hampshire	52	10,286	7%
Delaware	43	4,510	8%
Connecticut	41	39,936	4%
Rhode Island	41	9,154	4%
New York	40	247,467	7%
New Jersey	39	80,124	6%
Maine	34	12,080	8%
Missouri	33	36,468	8%
Oregon	33	37,324	9%
Florida	32	109,826	6%
Massachusetts	31	92,714	5%
Michigan	31	55,684	7%
Louisiana	28	49,303	7%
Hawaii	27	11,567	9%
Virginia	27	50,810	7%
California	26	316,630	6%
Mississippi	26	23,774	8%
Ohio	26	88,906	8%
Arizona	25	23,508	8%
Minnesota	25	33,538	10%
Utah	25	11,662	12%
Iowa	24	19,178	13%
Tennessee	24	34,404	9%
Nevada	23	15,671	5%
Pennsylvania	23	78,218	9%
Alabama	22	33,845	10%
Georgia	22	54,636	9%
Illinois	22	100,284	6%
Indiana	21	38,351	9%
Montana	21	5,743	14%
North Carolina	21	54,738	8%
Texas	21	150,345	7%
Wisconsin	21	27,752	7%
Idaho	20	6,702	14%
Colorado	19	33,189	6%
Kansas	19	10,705	13%
Nebraska	19	11,083	13%
New Mexico	17	11,108	6%
South Carolina	17	25,614	8%
Vermont	17	7,308	8%
Arkansas	16	21,638	12%
Oklahoma	16	23,586	8%
District of Columbia	15	13,584	20%
South Dakota	15	5,318	15%
Washington	14	60,329	8%
Kentucky	13	32,439	10%
North Dakota	11	6,976	15%
West Virginia	10	13,890	14%
Wyoming	10	2,532	17%

Frequently asked questions

How long is the Section 8 waiting list?

HUD's 2025 Picture of Subsidized Households data show that Housing Choice Voucher households admitted nationwide had waited an average of 27 months. By state the average runs from 10 months in West Virginia and Wyoming to 62 months in Maryland, with a median of 23 months across 50 jurisdictions (Alaska reports no figure). The numbers describe households that already got a voucher, so people still waiting are not counted.

What can I do while waiting for Section 8?

Apply to more than one housing agency, because HUD says you may need to apply to multiple waiting lists. Keep your address, phone and household size current, because HUD says failing to update them may get you removed. Dial 211 for local rent and utility help, apply for LIHEAP through energyhelp.us or 1-866-674-6327 for energy bills, and ask your housing agency about public housing lists. If you are working, ask whether your employer or an app offers earned wage access: it lets you draw part of the pay you have already earned before payday. It is not a loan; check the fee before you use it.

Can I apply for Section 8 in more than one state or city?

Yes. HUD says that because of high demand and long waiting lists you may need to apply to multiple public housing agency waitlists, and that you do not have to live in an agency's area to apply. A housing agency may still give a local residency preference under 24 CFR 982.207(b), so ask each agency how it ranks applicants.

How does a housing agency decide who is next on the Section 8 list?

Under 24 CFR 982.207, an agency may rank applicants by local preferences written in its administrative plan, such as a working-family preference, and then by application date and time or by a lottery. Under 982.204(d) it may not change the order because of family size, and under 982.207(d) it may not skip families to admit higher-income ones.

Is the Section 8 waiting list closed?

It can be. Under 24 CFR 982.206(c) an agency may stop accepting applications when its existing list holds an adequate pool for the funding available, and when a list is open it must give public notice of where and when to apply. USA.gov advises checking your agency's website for reopening dates.

What happens if I miss a letter from the housing authority?

The agency's administrative plan may remove applicants who do not respond to requests for information or updates (24 CFR 982.204(c)). If the family includes a person with a disability and the missed response was because of that disability, the agency must reinstate the family to its former position on the list.

Do I have to pay to join a Section 8 waiting list?

No. The FTC says there is no fee to register for a Section 8 waiting list and that housing authorities do not charge fees. Fake websites collect fees and personal information without placing you on any list. Find your real agency through HUD's public housing contacts directory.

Who gets Section 8 first?

There is no single national order. Agencies set preferences, and federal rules require that at least 75 percent of the families admitted from the list each fiscal year be extremely low income (24 CFR 982.201(b)(2)). Ask your agency which preferences it uses, since a preference can move you ahead of people who applied earlier.

Bottom line

The Section 8 waiting list averages 27 months nationwide and varies from 10 months in West Virginia and Wyoming to 62 months in Maryland, so the most useful move is to be on several lists and to never miss a letter. Apply to the agencies you can reach, claim every preference you qualify for, and keep a folder of your documents. Use 211, LIHEAP and, if you work, a low-fee earned wage access option to cover bills in the meantime.

For the wider picture, read our housing assistance programs guide, the explainer on rental and utility assistance at the same time, how to apply for government assistance, and how long SNAP approval takes.

How we built this page: we compiled and verified it on first-party sources read on 24 October 2026: the HUD USER Picture of Subsidized Households query tool (Housing Choice Vouchers, 2025 data, U.S. and state level), 24 CFR 982.201, 982.204, 982.206 and 982.207 on the eCFR, HUD's voucher tenant and public housing pages, USA.gov, the FTC alert, and ACF's LIHEAP page (sources linked inline). The finding is our own arithmetic on HUD's published figures; the date table adds HUD's average months to 24 October 2026 and is an illustration. HUD's wait figure covers households already admitted, so it understates the wait for people still on a list. We did not apply to any agency; this is not legal advice, and your housing authority decides your place.