Area Median Income is an important term to understand, but it does come with confusion. This is a metric produced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and is updated each spring. One of the main uses for AMI is for determining eligibility for public assistance programs at both the local and federal level.
What is it
If you took every household in Carroll County, NH, and lined them up from poorest to wealthiest, the income of the household right in the middle would represent the AMI for this particular region. For 2022, this was $85,300 and based on a 4-person household. Half of the people who live in Carroll have household income levels above this and half have incomes totalling less than that. This is gross income, so your total earnings from all sources prior to taxes and deductions.
Why is AMI important
In addition to determining the area median income, HUD also sets the limits that define low-income levels.
- Households that earn less than 120% and more than 80% are defined as workforce housing.
- Households that earn less than 80% of an area AMI are defined as low income.
- Households that earn less than 50% of an area AMI are defined as very-low income.
- Households that earn less than 30% of an area AMI are defined as extremely-low income.
As displayed in the table below, which outlines limits for Carroll County in 2022, a family of 4 would need to have a gross household income of under $75,600 in order to be eligible for low-income housing programs while a household of 2 would need to have an income of less than $60,500 to be eligible for the same program.
AMI | 1 Person | 2 People | 3 people | 4 people | 5 people | 6 people |
100% | $66,200 | $75,600 | $85,100 | $94,500 | $102,100 | $109,700 |
80% | $52,950 | $60,500 | $68,050 | $75,600 | $81,650 | $87,700 |
50% | $33,100 | $37,800 | $42,550 | $47,250 | $51,050 | $54,850 |
30% | $19,850 | $22,700 | $25,550 | $28,350 | $32,470 | $37,190 |
New Hampshire Housing www.nhhfa.org
This metric is used to highlight the need for government assistance or programs in a certain area. If your household falls below these benchmarks, you may be eligible for programs that assist with funding housing costs.
Area Median Income also allows policymakers a way to understand who they are helping through housing assistance programs by clearly defining eligibility levels. For example: In 2021-22, the average salary for teachers in Conway was $52,526 (NH Department of Education) while the average salary for an auto mechanic is $41,576 (ziprecrtuiter.com). If both of these occupations are single occupancy households, we can see that both would be eligible for low-income programs in NH. However, with any increase in income, such as adding a side hustle, the teacher would move above the limit for low-income eligibility and into the category HUD defines as workforce housing.
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