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What are the 2025 federal poverty guidelines for all household sizes up to 8 and how are larger households calculated?
Executive summary
The 2025 HHS poverty guidelines list 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for the 48 contiguous states and D.C. at $15,650 for one person and $32,150 for a family of four; guidelines were updated using a 2.9% CPI-U increase and published in the Federal Register (Jan. 17, 2025) [1] [2] [3]. For households larger than eight, HHS provides an “add‑on” amount per additional person (different program pages cite differing add‑ons — see below), and many agencies (USCIS, DOE, Medicaid guidance) use the HHS tables or the add‑on rule to extend the table [4] [5] [2].
1. What the 2025 guidelines say and why they changed
HHS adjusted the 2025 poverty guidelines by applying the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI‑U) increase of 2.9% (calendar 2023→2024) to the Census poverty thresholds, then rounding and standardizing the results; that process produced the January 2025 guidelines published in the Federal Register (effective Jan. 17, 2025) [3] [6]. The public HHS/ASPE table shows annual, monthly and weekly amounts for household sizes — for example, $15,650 (annual) for one person and $32,150 for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. [1] [2].
2. The core 1–8 household figures (how to read the table)
HHS/ASPE publish detailed tables for household sizes 1 through 8 showing the annual (and monthly/weekly) dollar amounts at 100% of poverty and many common multiples (e.g., 125%, 150%, 185%) used by programs [1] [7]. Local and state agencies often repost these tables (for example, county or court sites), and many program rules (Medicaid, SNAP, premium tax credits, etc.) reference specific percentages of these HHS amounts [6] [7].
3. How larger households are calculated — the official add‑on method
When a household has more than eight members, HHS’s guidance is to add a fixed dollar amount for each additional person beyond eight; agencies using the guidelines extend the table by adding that per‑person amount [5] [4]. The Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program and other federal pages state that for families with more than eight persons, you add a specific dollar amount per additional person to the 8‑person figure to get the 100% FPL level — and then multiply for program percentages if needed (e.g., 200% for weatherization) [5].
4. Conflicting published per‑person add‑on amounts — transparency and risk of confusion
Available HHS/agency sources in the search set indicate different add‑on values in various secondary tables: some pages state add $6,190 per additional person, others list $6,880, $6,330, $5,380, or $5,140 in derived summaries [5] [8]. This divergence appears in non‑HHS reposts or program pages that adapt HHS tables for their own eligibility calculations. The authoritative HHS/ASPE table should be treated as primary; program offices (e.g., USCIS I‑864P, CMS, DOE) commonly publish the specific add‑on they use in their guidance, so users must check the program’s page tied to their application [4] [2] [5].
5. Practical implications for applicants and programs
Because many federal and state programs use different multiples of the HHS guideline (e.g., 133% for Medicaid expansion rules historically, 185% for some benefits, or program‑specific rounding rules), the raw HHS table is a starting point; each program defines how to round, what counts as household income, and how household size is defined [1] [6]. USCIS uses the HHS guidelines for affidavit of support minimums (effective Mar. 1, 2025) and lists 1–8 and describes the mechanism to extend beyond eight [4].
6. How to verify the correct per‑person add‑on for your case
Check the original HHS/ASPE publication or the Federal Register notice for the definitive 1–8 figures and any HHS statement about the add‑on amount; then confirm the agency that governs your benefit (e.g., Medicaid, USCIS, DOE Weatherization) because that agency’s guidance determines the final calculation and rounding [3] [6] [2] [4]. If an agency reposts an HHS table on a local site, verify against the HHS/ASPE PDF or the Federal Register posting to avoid secondary transcription differences [1] [3].
Limitations: available sources in your search set show the official HHS tables and several agency pages but also contain divergent secondary figures for the “per additional person” add‑on; consult the HHS/ASPE original PDF and the specific program guidance cited above to resolve discrepancies for a particular eligibility determination [1] [3] [5] [4].