LIHEAP Income Guidelines 2026–27: Who Qualifies, How to Apply and How It Affects SNAP

LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, helps households with low income pay heating and cooling bills. Your state runs it, sets its own income limit and decides where you apply, and it pays only while the year’s money lasts. The 2026–27 limits we have checked are in the table below, and applying is free. Since the 2025 budget law (Public Law 119-21), getting LIHEAP alone no longer gets a household SNAP‘s heating and cooling allowance, unless someone in the household is 60 or older or has a disability.

What is LIHEAP and what does it help pay for?

LIHEAP is a federal program that helps households with low income pay their home energy bills, and each state and DC runs its own. The federal side sits with the Office of Community Services in the Administration for Children and Families, part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It keeps a list of every state’s LIHEAP office, with the office’s website and phone number.

The help comes in up to three kinds, and your state may offer only some of them:

• Heating help: a payment toward your heating bill.
• Cooling help: a payment toward your cooling bill. Not every state has it. Wyoming’s plan for the year ending September 2026 had no cooling part.
• Crisis help: emergency help in an energy emergency. DC’s page describes it for a household that still owes a set amount after its regular payment and has had its service disconnected, or whose delivered fuel is nearly gone.

Your state may use another name for LIHEAP. Wisconsin’s program is WHEAP, Connecticut’s is CEAP, Ohio’s is HEAP and North Carolina’s is LIEAP. The list of state offices above is the surest way to find yours.

Some states also list weatherization with LIHEAP. That is work that makes a home use less energy. It has its own income limit in the plans and pages we read, such as Alabama’s and Mississippi’s.

Who can get LIHEAP?

You can likely get LIHEAP if your household’s income is at or under your state’s limit, and in some states if someone in your household gets SNAP, SSI or TANF. The state decides, so the limit and the other rules depend on where you live.

The limit goes up with the number of people in your household, and a state sets it for each program year. The table in the next section shows the limits we have checked for 2026–27. Savings can count too: Montana’s page, for example, also sets a limit on cash, savings and other resources by household size.

Other conditions differ from state to state, so read your state’s page before you rely on the income limit alone. Only your state’s LIHEAP office can say for sure whether you qualify.

What are the LIHEAP income guidelines for 2026–27?

Each state sets its own LIHEAP income guideline, so your limit depends on your state and the size of your household. The table shows the limits we have checked for the 2026–27 program year. It gives a month’s income before taxes for 1 to 4 people, with a link to the state page each limit comes from.

Not checked yet: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming. Their limits are on each state's own pages.

To use the table, find your state and the column for the number of people in your household. If your household’s income for a month, before taxes, is at or under that number, you are within the state’s limit. Your state may count income over a different period, as the next section shows. For a household of five or more, use your state’s own chart.

The table works from each state’s own chart. Where a state prints a yearly limit, the table shows a twelfth of it. Where a state sets its limit as a share of the poverty guidelines, the table works out that share from the 2026 guidelines. It rounds down to whole dollars. The poverty guidelines are the yearly income lines HHS sets for each household size.

The states named under the table as “Not checked yet” are ones whose 2026–27 limit is not in our data yet. For some, the state’s website would not open for us. For others, the page still showed last year’s limit, named no year, or gave the limit only as a share of income, which we have not worked out in dollars. We left them out rather than guess, and the calculator shows “Not checked yet” for them too. A row is only as current as the page it comes from, so open its Source link to see which year the state’s own chart is for. The limits for SNAP, WIC, school meals and other programs are in the guide to income limits for benefits.

Federal law sets the highest income line a state can use. That line is the greater of 150% of the poverty level or 60% of the state median income (42 U.S.C. 8624(b)(2)(B)). A state may set a lower limit. The state median income is the middle household income in the state.

States choose their line in different ways. In the pages and plans we read:

• Some set a share of the poverty guidelines: Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Kentucky and North Carolina.
• Some set a share of the state median income: Wisconsin, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, California, Mississippi and Minnesota.
• Some use both, by household size. Ohio uses the poverty guidelines for 1 to 7 people and the median income for 8 or more. Montana uses the median income for 1 to 9 people and the poverty guidelines for 10 or more.
• Some print a dollar chart with no percentage: Maine and DC.

What income counts for LIHEAP?

Most states count your household’s gross income, which is income before taxes or anything else is taken out. Nevada, Kentucky, West Virginia and Wisconsin all say gross income in the pages we read.

How far back a state looks differs. Iowa looks at 30 days of income, the last calendar year or the last 12 months, and turns it into a yearly figure. Kentucky counts the calendar month before the month you apply. Ohio looks at the last 30 days or the previous 12 months, and leaves out the wages of children under 18 who are dependents.

So ask your state’s office which period it uses before you add up your income. The calculator compares the monthly pay and other income you type in with the monthly limit for your household size.

Does getting SNAP, SSI or TANF qualify you for LIHEAP?

In some states it does, but each state decides, and many plans do not say. Meeting the income rule because you already get another program is called categorical eligibility.

The plans we read differ:

• California’s draft plan for 2026–27 marks households that get SNAP or TANF as categorically eligible, and does not mark SSI.
• Connecticut’s plan counts a household as categorically eligible when it pays a vendor directly for heat and someone in it gets SNAP, SSI, Temporary Family Assistance or a few other benefits. The state still checks other members’ income to set the amount.
• New Jersey’s plan names TANF and SNAP, among other programs.
• Georgia’s draft plan says families that get “pure public assistance” are categorically eligible, and does not say which benefits count.

The calculator treats a “Likely” for SNAP, SSI or TANF as meeting LIHEAP’s income rule only in a state whose plan names that program. Everywhere else it checks your income against the limit. Where a plan does not say, ask the office.

Does LIHEAP affect SNAP?

Yes. Since Public Law 119-21, getting LIHEAP alone no longer gets a household SNAP’s heating and cooling allowance. LIHEAP still brings it only when someone in the household is 60 or older or has a disability. The change is in section 10103 of the 2025 budget law, which was signed on July 4, 2025.

First, what the allowance is. SNAP subtracts the part of your housing costs, utilities included, that is more than half of your income after its other deductions. A state can use a set amount for utilities, called the standard utility allowance, in place of your real bills (7 CFR 273.9). Your SNAP is the most for your household size minus 30% of your net income, so a bigger housing deduction can mean more SNAP. The heating and cooling allowance is the standard amount for households that pay for heating or cooling apart from their rent.

What the law changed is who gets that allowance because of LIHEAP. Before, any household that got more than $20 in energy help got it. Now only a household with an elderly or disabled member gets it that way. The $20 is counted over the current month and the 12 months before. USDA’s Economic Research Service says the same: energy help such as LIHEAP no longer qualifies a household for a utility allowance unless it includes an elderly or disabled member (EIB-304). As of late October 2026 the text of 7 CFR 273.9 still shows the old rule for every household, but the law overrides it.

“Elderly or disabled” has a set meaning in SNAP’s rule (7 CFR 271.2). Elderly means 60 or older. Disabled covers, for example, people who get SSI or disability or blindness payments from Social Security, and veterans the VA rates as totally disabled. A household with an elderly or disabled member also has no cap on its housing deduction.

Connecticut’s plan for 2026–27 shows the change at work. It pays a small LIHEAP amount, just over the $20 the law asks for, to SNAP households that do not pay a heating vendor directly but do have a housing or utility cost. The plan says that since Public Law 119-21, LIHEAP given only to trigger or raise the SNAP utility allowance is limited to households with someone 60 or older or with a disability. Households without one are no longer eligible for LIHEAP just for that purpose.

What this means for you:

• If someone in your household is 60 or older or has a disability, getting LIHEAP can still bring the heating and cooling allowance.
• If nobody is, LIHEAP alone no longer does. If you pay for heating or cooling apart from your rent, tell the SNAP office what you pay, because that can still get you the allowance.
• The dollar amount of the allowance is each state’s own, so ask your SNAP office what yours is.

The calculator asks what bills you pay apart from rent. Choose “Heating or cooling (and others)” if you pay for heating or cooling yourself. It does not ask whether you get LIHEAP. The SNAP guide explains the rest of how SNAP is worked out.

This page covers the utility allowance only. If you wonder how your SNAP office treats a LIHEAP payment in any other way, ask it. Only the SNAP office can say for sure how your state applies the change.

How do you apply for LIHEAP?

You apply with your own state, because each state runs its own LIHEAP program and many take applications through local agencies. Start with the list of state LIHEAP offices, which gives each state’s agency, website and phone number. When the calculator shows energy help for your state, its card links to your state’s page where our data has one, and otherwise to the federal LIHEAP page. Applying is free.

How you apply differs, as these states’ pages show:

• Alabama: through the Community Action Agency for your county. The state agency, ADECA, does not accept or process applications.
• Iowa: at the local Community Action Agency, first come, first served. Households with someone 60 or older or with a disability can apply before everyone else.
• Wisconsin: by phone or mail through your local energy assistance agency, or online at energybenefit.wi.gov.
• West Virginia: with a form from a local Department of Human Services office, a Community Action agency or a senior center, or online at WV PATH. Some households get an automatic payment or a mailed application.
• Montana: one application for LIHEAP and weatherization. You can fill it in online, but you must print it and deliver or mail it to your local eligibility office.
• DC: only through DC’s Department of Energy and Environment, online, by mail, or in person by appointment.

Dates differ too. In the states we read, heating help opens in the fall, and some states close it in the spring. West Virginia says it will announce its dates. Apply as soon as your state lets you, because help is paid while the money lasts. Ask your state’s office what you need to bring.

This site takes no applications and sends nothing to any office. Only your state’s LIHEAP office can decide whether you get help and how much.

How much does LIHEAP pay?

How much you get depends on your state and your household, because each state sets its payments in its plan for the year. Amounts change from year to year, so your state’s page has the current ones.

The plans and pages we read set the payment by several things:

• Montana: a base amount by type of home, number of bedrooms and fuel, adjusted by other factors the page lists.
• New Jersey: income, household size, fuel type and heating region.
• DC: household size, income, heating source and type of home, with a separate payment for households whose heat is included in the rent.
• Connecticut: three income steps, with higher payments for households the plan calls vulnerable.

The calculator adds energy help to your month only where our data holds a typical yearly amount for your state, and it spreads that amount over 12 months. Where it does not, the calculator shows the help and counts no dollars for it, so the “Help you could get” total leaves it out.

Does LIHEAP run out of money?

It can. Each state pays LIHEAP while the year’s money lasts, so meeting the income limit does not promise you help. How a state handles that differs:

• Iowa takes applications first come, first served.
• Pennsylvania’s proposed plan sets an opening day and a closing day for its cash and crisis help, and West Virginia says it will announce the dates for its regular program.
• Kentucky’s rule sets its limit but lets the state raise it when funding allows.
• Minnesota’s draft plan would lower its income limit in step with any cut in federal funding, and its notice shows the lower limits step by step.

That is why the calculator shows energy help as “Maybe”, never “Likely”, even when your income is under the limit. Apply early, and ask your office how long it expects its money to last.

What happens to LIHEAP when your pay goes up?

Where LIHEAP goes by income, it ends for a household whose income is over its state’s limit, so a raise can end it. The calculator checks your monthly income against your state’s limit for your household size, and it shows energy help as “Not now” once you are over.

The loss is the help itself, a payment toward your energy bills. In the calculator it shows up in your total only where the data holds a typical amount for your state, so in many states a LIHEAP cliff will not show. If SNAP, SSI or TANF is what qualifies you in your state, LIHEAP follows that program rather than your pay.

The calculator works out your own household at every level of pay and marks each point where your total falls, with the programs that end there. The guide to the benefits cliff explains which programs have cliffs and how to find yours.

How do you avoid a LIHEAP scam?

Never pay to apply: applying for LIHEAP is free, and nobody legitimate asks for a fee to apply, to put you on a list or to guarantee help. If a website, a caller or a text asks you to pay, it is not your state’s program.

Find your state’s office from the federal list of state LIHEAP offices, not from an ad or a message. Do not give your Social Security number or bank details to anyone who contacted you first. Give personal details only on your state’s own application, and only when you started it.

This site never asks for your name, Social Security number or bank details, and nothing you type into the calculator is sent anywhere. If you think you paid a scammer, tell your state’s LIHEAP office.

Figures checked October 31, 2026.

Questions people ask

Does LIHEAP change how much SNAP I get?

It can. Since Public Law 119-21, getting LIHEAP alone no longer adds SNAP’s heating and cooling allowance unless someone in your household is 60 or older or has a disability. A household without such a member that used to get the allowance through LIHEAP can get less SNAP now. If that is you, tell the SNAP office what you pay for heating or cooling apart from your rent. This page covers the utility allowance only, so ask the SNAP office about anything else.

Can I get SNAP and LIHEAP at the same time?

Yes. Several state plans treat getting SNAP as a way to qualify for LIHEAP, and Connecticut’s plan has a LIHEAP payment for SNAP households. The 2025 change is about how LIHEAP counts toward SNAP’s utility allowance.

Is LIHEAP only for winter heating?

No. It can also pay cooling bills and cover emergencies. Oklahoma runs winter heating, summer cooling and an energy crisis program, Virginia’s program has fuel, crisis and cooling assistance, and DC’s page says LIHEAP helps with heating and cooling costs. Wyoming’s plan for the year ending September 2026 had no cooling part, so check what your state offers.

Can I get LIHEAP if my heat is included in my rent?

It depends on your state. DC’s benefit table has a payment for households whose heat is included in the rent, so those households can get help there. Ask your state’s LIHEAP office whether it helps renters in your situation.

Is LIHEAP the same as my utility’s own help program?

Not always. Some states run their own utility help next to LIHEAP and use one income table for both. New Jersey’s table covers LIHEAP and its Universal Service Fund. Maryland’s covers its Maryland Energy Assistance Program and its Electric Universal Service Program. Vermont’s covers its fuel assistance and the discounts from Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas Systems. Ask your state’s office which programs one application covers.

When can I apply for LIHEAP?

It depends on your state and the year. In the states we read, heating help opens in the fall. Iowa, Pennsylvania (in its proposed plan), DC and Wisconsin have all set fall dates for this season, and Iowa and Pennsylvania close theirs in April. Oklahoma ran a separate enrollment for summer cooling. Check your state’s page, and apply early, because help is paid while the money lasts.

Does the calculator tell me for sure whether I get LIHEAP?

No. It gives an estimate from your state’s published income limit and what you type, and it shows energy help as “Maybe” at best, because the money can run out. Only your state’s LIHEAP office decides.

Updated November 1, 2026