San Jose, California Affordable Housing

Waiting Lists in San Jose, California

There are no open Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waiting lists in San Jose. Go to the California Section 8 Waiting Lists page for openings near San Jose.

Public Housing Agencies Serving San Jose, California

Public Housing Agencies operate federally assisted affordable housing programs at local levels on behalf of HUD. Notably, housing agencies are responsible for managing Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Public Housing, and Project-Based Voucher waiting lists within their jurisdiction.

San Jose, California Affordable Housing Data

Income Based Apartments in San Jose, California

San Jose features 4,569 income based apartments. Tenants of income based apartments typically pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent and utilities.

Low Rent Apartments in San Jose, California

There are 16,074 rent subsidized apartments that do not provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in San Jose.

Housing Choice Vouchers in San Jose, California

On average, Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers pay San Jose landlords $1,700 per month towards rent. The average voucher holder contributes $600 towards rent in San Jose.

The maximum amount a voucher would pay on behalf of a low-income tenant in San Jose, California for a two-bedroom apartment is between $2,647 and $3,235.

2023 San Jose, California Fair Market Rents and Housing Choice Voucher Payment Standards

Fair Market Rents can be used to better understand the average housing costs of an area. Fair Market Rents are used by HUD to establish payment and rent standards for federal rental assistance programs like the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Sourced from federal housing data and AffordableHousingOnline.com research.

San Jose, CA Affordable Housing Snapshot

Population and Household Demographics

San Jose is a city in Santa Clara County, California with a population of 1,000,860. There are 314,297 households in the city with an average household size of 3.14 persons. 42.79% of households in San Jose are renters.

Income and Rent Overburden in San Jose

The median gross income for households in San Jose is $84,647 a year, or $7,054 a month. The median rent for the city is $1,585 a month.

Households who pay more than thirty percent of their gross income are considered to be Rent Overburdened. In San Jose, a household making less than $5,283 a month would be considered overburdened when renting an apartment at or above the median rent. 51.57% of households who rent are overburdened in San Jose.

Area Median Income In San Jose

Affordable housing program eligibility is always determined by one's income. Each household's income is compared to the incomes of all other households in the area. This is accomplished through a statistic established by the government called the Area Median Income, most often referred to as AMI. The AMI is calculated and published each year by HUD.

HUD often uses an area larger than a city to determine the AMI because HUD anticipates those searching for housing will look beyond individual cities during their housing search. For San Jose, the AMI is calculated from all households within Santa Clara County.

In San Jose, HUD calculates the Area Median Income for a family of four as $168,500

Most affordable housing programs determine eligibility based on the percent of AMI a given household's income is. Among the programs that determine eligibility based on the AMI are Section 8, HOME, LIHTC, Section 515, 202 and 811.

Rental Assistance in San Jose

Rental assistance is a type of housing subsidy that pays for a portion of a renter’s monthly housing costs, including rent and tenant paid utilities. This housing assistance can come in the form of Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, project-based Section 8 contracts, public housing, USDA Rental Assistance (in Section 515 properties) as well as HUD Section 202 and 811 properties for elderly and disabled households.

Income Qualifications for HUD Rental Assistance in San Jose