Quick Answer: AMI is set for Tarrant County by HUD, not by the county or the City of Fort Worth. HUD estimates median family income across the entire Fort Worth-Arlington area, then adjusts that figure by household size to produce the income limits that affordable communities apply.
The number that catches most applicants off guard is $110,300. That is HUD's FY2026 median family income estimate for the Fort Worth-Arlington area, and it is the starting point for how AMI is set for Tarrant County. Dakota Apartments is an income-restricted community serving South Fort Worth from Wedgwood, and this question comes up in almost every leasing conversation we have about income-restricted apartments in Fort Worth.
The short version: that figure describes a family of four across a three-county market. It was never meant to describe you.
What HUD income limits actually measure
HUD income limits are not a snapshot of what your neighbors earn. They are federal estimates of median family income for an entire market area, adjusted by household size and constrained by statutory caps. Tarrant County does not get its own figure. It shares one set of numbers with Johnson and Parker counties under the Fort Worth-Arlington HUD Metro FMR Area.
HUD builds the estimate from Census Bureau American Community Survey data, then projects it forward to the fiscal year. There is a built-in delay. HUD says its calculations run about two years behind the survey collection, which is why a strong local wage year does not show up in the limits right away. The full annual income limits dataset is published on HUD USER, and the FY2026 tables took effect May 1, 2026, roughly a month later than the usual April release.
Why HUD AMI is a family number, not a household number
This is the detail that explains most of the confusion. HUD pulls from a specific Census table, B19113, which reports median income for families. A family means two or more related people living together. Someone living alone is not counted. Neither are roommates who are not related.
Strip out every single-person household and every roommate arrangement, and the median jumps. The Census Bureau put Fort Worth's median household income at $82,503 in 2024. HUD's family-based estimate for the wider metro area sits about $28,000 above that. Same city, two different questions, two very different answers.
Why does the AMI income figure look so high for Tarrant County?
Four things push it up. The family basis is the first. Geography is the second, since HUD averages Southlake and Colleyville with neighborhoods on the east and south sides of Fort Worth. Third, the headline assumes four people. Most renters we talk to are one or two.
The fourth is smoothing. HUD limits how far the numbers can move in a single year, holding annual decreases to five percent and capping increases at the greater of five percent or twice the change in national median family income, with a hard ceiling of ten percent, a rule spelled out in the FY 2026 income limits methodology. For FY2026 that ceiling landed at ten percent. The average area moved 3.4 percent. Fort Worth-Arlington moved with it, rising from $106,700 to $110,300.
Here is what those percentages translate into for the current year.
| FY2026 tier | 1-person limit | 4-person limit | Where it gets used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely low (30%) | $23,200 | $33,100 | Priority targeting on voucher and public housing waitlists |
| Very low (50%) | $38,650 | $55,150 | The usual ceiling for Housing Choice Voucher eligibility |
| 60% of median | $46,380 | $66,180 | The common set-aside tier at tax credit communities |
| Low (80%) | $61,800 | $88,250 | HOME-funded and workforce housing programs |
| Area median family income | Not published | $110,300 | The base figure every tier above is derived from |
Notice how far apart the two columns sit. A one-person limit runs about 70 percent of the four-person figure at every tier.
Income limits shift with household size
Household size is the single biggest variable in whether you qualify. At the 50 percent tier, a person living alone in the Fort Worth-Arlington area is measured against $38,650. A family of four is measured against $55,150. Add a fifth person and the number rises again.
Count everyone who will live in the unit, including children, then find that row. That is your line. Our available floor plans list bedroom counts, which is a useful cross-check, since occupancy standards and income tiers work together.
How do Section 8 income limits differ from tax credit income requirements?
Both draw from the same HUD tables, but they attach to different things. Section 8 income limits attach to a person. A voucher belongs to the household, and eligibility runs through a public housing authority. In this county that is the Tarrant County Housing Assistance Office, and federal rules require most new vouchers to go to households in the lowest tier. You will see the same thing written as sec 8 income limits on some listing sites. It is the same table.
Tax credit income requirements attach to the apartment instead. A Section 42 community agrees to keep units restricted, so eligibility is checked at the property, not by an agency. Those properties use a separate publication, the Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project income limits, which can differ from the Section 8 figures in the table above. Ask any community for its posted numbers rather than assuming.
What HUD income restrictions mean when you apply
Management verifies gross annual income for every adult in the household before a lease is signed. Pay stubs, tax returns, benefit award letters, self-employment records. HUD income restrictions are checked against a total, not a single paycheck, and most income-restricted properties recertify residents each year.
Report everything accurately the first time. Underreporting surfaces at recertification, and it can cost you the unit. If you are ready to move forward, you can begin an application online and ask the office to walk you through the current thresholds.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Tarrant County or the City of Fort Worth set these numbers?
Neither one. HUD calculates them at the federal level using Census survey data and publishes them once a year. Local agencies and property managers apply the figures, but they have no authority to raise or lower them. Complaints about the number being high belong to the methodology, not the leasing office.
2. How often do HUD housing income limits change?
Once a year. HUD normally publishes in April, though the FY2026 tables slipped to May 1, 2026. Figures from a prior year go stale the moment new ones take effect, so verify against the current release before you rely on a threshold you saw online.
3. What counts as household low income under HUD's rules?
HUD uses four brackets, each one a percentage of the area median. The question every bracket answers is simple: is this household low income by HUD's definition, and by how much?
- Extremely low income sits at roughly 30 percent of the area median.
- Very low income sits at 50 percent.
- The 60 percent tier is where most tax credit units land.
- Low income sits at 80 percent, the top of the published range.
4. My income went up. Am I automatically over the limit?
Not necessarily. The limits move too, and they moved up 3.4 percent on average this year. What matters is your household's gross annual total against the current row for your family size. Recertification is when that comparison happens, and a modest raise often changes nothing.
5. Why is the AMI figure higher than what most people I know earn?
Because it measures families of four across a three-county market, not individuals in one neighborhood. The Fort Worth-Arlington area includes some of the highest-earning suburbs in North Texas. Averaging pulls the median up well past what a typical renter in South Fort Worth actually brings home.
Conclusion
Understanding how AMI is set for Tarrant County turns an intimidating number into a workable one. The $110,300 headline is a federal estimate for a family of four across Tarrant, Johnson, and Parker counties. Your own threshold depends on household size and which tier a property applies.
Dakota Apartments sits in Wedgwood, minutes from Hulen and I-20 in South Fort Worth. Take a look at where we are on the map, then call the office at (817) 294-7555 and ask what the current limits look like for your household size.
