There are no official 2027 LIHEAP income limits yet. The Department of Health and Human Services will not publish the 2027 federal poverty guidelines until mid-January 2027, and each state then sets its own actual LIHEAP income cutoff within a federal range: no lower than 110% of the federal poverty guidelines, and no higher than the greater of 150% of the federal poverty guidelines or 60% of state median income. Based on a mid-range 3% inflation projection, the federal ceiling for a one-person household would rise from about $23,940 in 2026 to approximately $24,659 in 2027, but your actual state limit could be higher or lower than that ceiling and won't be confirmed until your state's energy office publishes it.
This is the single biggest thing to understand about LIHEAP eligibility for 2027: there is no one national income limit, projected or otherwise. Congress sets a floor and ceiling. Every state, territory, and tribal grantee picks its own number inside that range, and many pick numbers well above the 150% FPL floor because they use the state median income option instead.
How LIHEAP Income Eligibility Actually Works
LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) is funded by a federal block grant, but it is not federally administered the way SNAP or SSI is. The federal statute gives states two allowed benchmarks for setting an income cutoff:
- 150% of the federal poverty guidelines (FPG), or
- 60% of state median income (SMI)
A state may use whichever of these two produces the higher cutoff. States are also allowed to set eligibility as low as 110% of the federal poverty guidelines if they want to target funds more narrowly, though most states set their limit closer to the maximum allowed.
Because state median income varies enormously by state (a family of four in Massachusetts or New Jersey has a much higher SMI than a family of four in Mississippi or West Virginia), the 60% SMI option frequently produces a higher income cutoff than 150% FPL in higher-cost states. Some states use SMI as their standard threshold every year specifically because it lets more households qualify.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees LIHEAP, issues an annual Information Memorandum (IM) that tells state grant recipients which federal poverty guideline and state median income figures to use for benefit calculations in a given federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). States are not required to use the newest calendar-year numbers the moment HHS publishes them. This lag is why LIHEAP income limits often look "behind" the current year's official poverty guidelines for part of the year.
Current 2026 LIHEAP Income Limits (Confirmed Federal Ceiling)
These are the confirmed 2026 federal poverty guidelines and the 150% FPL ceiling that most states use as their reference point. Your actual state limit may sit below or above these numbers.
| Household Size | 100% FPL (2026) | 150% FPL Ceiling (2026) |
|---|
| 1 | $15,960 | $23,940 |
| 2 | $21,640 | $32,460 |
| 3 | $27,320 | $40,980 |
| 4 | $33,000 | $49,500 |
| 5 | $38,680 | $58,020 |
| 6 | $44,360 | $66,540 |
| 7 | $50,040 | $75,060 |
| 8 | $55,720 | $83,580 |
Add approximately $5,680 per additional person to the 100% FPL column for household sizes above 8, or approximately $8,520 to the 150% column.
Projected 2027 LIHEAP Income Limits (Forecast, Not Official)
Every number in this section is a projection. HHS has not published 2027 federal poverty guidelines, and the actual figures depend on full-year 2026 inflation data that is not yet available. The projections below use a mid-range 3% year-over-year growth assumption, consistent with recent Federal Reserve PCE inflation trends and Congressional Budget Office estimates.
| Household Size | Projected 100% FPL (2027) | Projected 150% FPL Ceiling (2027) |
|---|
| 1 | $16,439 | $24,659 |
| 2 | $22,289 | $33,434 |
| 3 | $28,140 | $42,210 |
| 4 | $33,990 | $50,985 |
| 5 | $39,840 | $59,760 |
| 6 | $45,690 | $68,535 |
| 7 | $51,540 | $77,310 |
| 8 | $57,392 | $86,088 |
Under a lower-inflation scenario (around 2%), the one-person ceiling would land closer to $24,419. Under a higher-inflation scenario (around 4%), it could reach approximately $24,898. The 3% mid-range figures above are the most likely outcome but should be treated as a planning estimate, not a number to submit on an application.
Remember that this table shows the projected federal ceiling only. It is not a projection of any specific state's actual 2027 LIHEAP income limit, because states choose their own number within the allowed range and some will use a state median income figure instead of the federal poverty guideline figure entirely.
Why State LIHEAP Limits Differ From the Federal Ceiling
Three things happen at the state level that this federal ceiling table cannot capture:
States can set a lower limit to stretch limited funding. LIHEAP block grants are capped dollar amounts. A state with high energy costs and heavy demand may set eligibility at 110% to 130% of the federal poverty guidelines rather than the maximum 150%, so the program can serve its highest-need households without running out of funds mid-winter.
States can use 60% of state median income instead, which is often higher. States with high median household incomes, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, have historically set LIHEAP eligibility above the 150% FPL figure because 60% of their state median income produces a larger number. A family that would not qualify under the 150% FPL rule in a lower-cost state can still qualify in one of these states.
States revise thresholds on their own fiscal year timeline. Because LIHEAP's federal fiscal year runs October through September, and because state median income estimates update on a different schedule than the calendar-year federal poverty guidelines, a state's published income limit for winter 2026-2027 heating season applications may not change on January 1, 2027, even after HHS releases new guidelines. Some states adjust in the fall, others in early winter, and the timing is set by each state energy office.
If you are budgeting or advising someone based on a specific state, the federal ceiling table above is a useful upper bound, but it is not a substitute for that state's published number.
How to Find Your State's Actual 2027 LIHEAP Income Limit
- Identify your state's LIHEAP agency. Every state runs LIHEAP through a state energy office, human services department, or community action network. The name and portal differ by state.
- Check for the current heating season's published income guidelines. Most states post their income limit chart when applications open, typically between September and November for the winter heating season.
- Confirm whether your state uses 150% FPL or the state median income standard. This single detail explains almost every difference between one state's income limit and the federal poverty guideline chart above.
- Re-check after mid-January 2027. HHS is expected to publish the official 2027 federal poverty guidelines in the Federal Register around January 14 to 21, 2027. States that peg their LIHEAP limit to FPL will typically update their published number within weeks to months of that release, though the exact timing depends on each state's fiscal year and administrative process.
- Call ahead if you are near a cutoff. Household composition, countable income, and deductions can all affect whether you fall under the limit, and phone screening at your local LIHEAP office is faster than guessing from a chart.
What to Do Now to Prepare for 2027 LIHEAP Applications
Because most states run LIHEAP on a heating-season cycle that starts before the calendar year turns, your 2026-2027 winter application will likely use figures published in fall 2026, not the projected 2027 numbers in this article. If you plan to apply for the 2027-2028 heating season, watch for your state's application opening date (commonly announced in late summer or early fall 2027) and check the published income chart at that time rather than relying on any projection, including this one.
Gathering proof of income, household size, and a recent energy bill ahead of time will not change the income limit, but it will let you apply immediately once your state's application window opens, which matters because LIHEAP funds are limited and some states exhaust their allocation before the season ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will the official 2027 LIHEAP income limits be published?
There is no single publication date for LIHEAP income limits, because states set their own thresholds. The underlying federal poverty guidelines that many states reference are expected in the Federal Register around January 14 to 21, 2027. Individual states then update their own LIHEAP income charts on their own timeline, often tied to when their heating season application window opens.
What is the maximum income limit LIHEAP allows by federal law?
Federal law caps state LIHEAP income eligibility at the greater of 150% of the federal poverty guidelines or 60% of state median income. A state cannot set its income limit higher than whichever of those two figures is larger for that state and household size.
Can a state set LIHEAP income limits lower than 150% of the federal poverty guidelines?
Yes. States are permitted to set eligibility as low as 110% of the federal poverty guidelines. States with limited LIHEAP funding relative to demand sometimes set a lower threshold to target the households with the greatest need.
Does 60% of state median income ever exceed 150% of the federal poverty guidelines?
Yes, and in a number of higher cost-of-living states it regularly does. States with high median household incomes, such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, have used the state median income standard because it produces a higher, more inclusive income cutoff than 150% FPL would.
How much are LIHEAP income limits projected to increase in 2027?
Under a mid-range 3% inflation assumption, the federal 150% FPL ceiling is projected to rise from $23,940 to approximately $24,659 for a one-person household, and from $49,500 to approximately $50,985 for a household of four. These are projections only and will be replaced by official HHS figures in January 2027.
Where can I check my exact state's 2027 LIHEAP income limit once it is released?
Your state's LIHEAP administering agency, usually a state energy office, department of human services, or community action agency network, publishes the current heating season's income chart directly. That published chart, not a national projection, is the number that determines your actual eligibility.
