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The bill makes AMI calculations more locally responsive to expand eligibility and better target housing assistance in high-cost mountain and rural areas, but it also raises risks of inconsistent application, budgetary shifts, and some low-income households losing eligibility.
Low-income renters and homeowners in high-cost pockets — especially mountain and rural communities — may gain eligibility or higher income limits for HUD programs because AMI can be calculated at ZIP-code, neighboring-county, or mountain-division scales.
Rural and tribal areas can aggregate contiguous counties (or opt into neighboring-county calculations), producing more realistic median incomes that better target assistance in sparsely populated regions.
Local governments are guaranteed approval to adopt the localized AMI calculations described, reducing administrative uncertainty and speeding local adoption of more tailored eligibility rules.
Some low-income households in lower-cost parts of a county could lose program eligibility if a higher-income ZIP code or neighboring-county AMI is used, reducing assistance for people who remain economically vulnerable.
Different AMI rules across neighboring counties and broad Secretary discretion risk inconsistent application and greater administrative complexity, imposing burdens on landlords, housing providers, applicants, nonprofits, and tribal communities.
Allowing localized AMI choices and raising income limits in high-cost areas could increase HUD program costs and unpredictably shift HUD/USDA funding formulas, straining federal and local budgets and potentially reducing resources in some jurisdictions.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Allows eligible mountain-area counties to use ZIP-code or contiguous multi-county AMI calculations for specified HUD and USDA programs and requires HUD to study AMI alternatives.
Introduced September 30, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress September 30, 2025
Allows counties in designated mountain (rural) areas to use alternative local measures when calculating Area Median Income (AMI) for select HUD and USDA housing programs, and requires HUD to study alternative AMI methods and affordability metrics for mountain communities, including impacts on seasonal workers. The bill directs HUD to set up the waiver program within 90 days of enactment (with HUD required to grant waivers to applying counties) and to deliver a public study and recommendations to congressional housing committees within two years.