What are the 2026 Federal Poverty Level (FPL) income thresholds by household size for the 48 contiguous states and D.C. vs Alaska and Hawaii?
Executive summary
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues annual Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPL) with three geographic variants: the 48 contiguous states + D.C., Alaska, and Hawaii; these guidelines set income thresholds by household size used by programs like Medicaid and marketplace subsidies [1] [2]. Available sources in your search list point to HHS/ASPE tables for 2025 and note procedural details for 2026 coverage year use, but the specific numeric 2026 FPL table for each household size is not directly quoted in the provided clips [3] [2] [4].
1. What the FPL is and why three different values exist
The FPL — formally the “Federal Poverty Guidelines” used for program eligibility — is a simplified administrative version of the Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds and is published annually by HHS/ASPE; HHS issues separate guideline values for the continental U.S. (48 states + D.C.), Alaska, and Hawaii because administrative practice since the late 1960s has treated those states differently due to higher cost levels [1] [2].
2. How the FPL is used for 2026 coverage and program rules
Multiple federal programs use the FPL or percentages of it to set eligibility: Medicaid/CHIP, premium tax credits and cost‑sharing reductions in the ACA Marketplace, and various state programs. For coverage effective in 2026, Marketplace eligibility and subsidy calculations typically compare projected 2026 household income to the preceding year’s poverty guidelines in administrative practice, and program rules may use specified percentages of the FPL (for example, subsidy eligibility ranges like 100–400% FPL) [4] [2] [5].
3. Where to find the official numeric thresholds (and current gaps in the provided reporting)
The authoritative numeric FPL tables are published by HHS/ASPE (the federal register posting and ASPE “Poverty Guidelines” page). Your provided results include a detailed 2025 ASPE PDF and pointers to HHS pages and a federal register reference for 2026-related rules, but none of the supplied snippets explicitly list the full 2026 numeric table for “100% of FPL” by household size for contiguous U.S. vs Alaska and Hawaii within the excerpts you shared [3] [1] [6]. Therefore, exact 2026 dollar amounts by household size are not found in the current reporting you supplied.
4. Common program multipliers and household-size adjustments to expect
Programs typically reference multiples of the listed FPL (for instance, 138% for Medicaid expansion eligibility in many states, or 250% for some subsidy tiers) and note how to treat households larger than eight (an extra per-person amount added to the 8‑person line). Your results reference these common multipliers and note specific per-person add-ons beyond eight household members in sample charts (for example, different add-on amounts appear in documents cited for 2025/2026 materials) [4] [6] [5].
5. Conflicting interpretations and administrative discretion to watch
HHS provides the guidelines but individual federal programs and state agencies determine how to apply them: how to round multiples, what income counts, and which geographic guideline to use for a particular jurisdiction. The ASPE material explicitly notes that when a federal program serves a jurisdiction outside the continental U.S., the administering office decides whether to use contiguous-states-and-D.C. guidelines or another procedure [1] [3]. That administrative discretion can produce variation in how eligibility is implemented across programs and states.
6. Practical next steps to get the exact 2026 numbers
To obtain the precise 2026 FPL dollar thresholds by household size for the 48 contiguous states + D.C., Alaska, and Hawaii, consult the HHS/ASPE “Poverty Guidelines” page or the Federal Register notice that publishes the annual guidelines; your search results point to those primary sources but do not include the full 2026 table text in the snippets provided [1] [3]. State agencies and marketplace sites (e.g., Covered California) also publish FPL‑based charts and program‑specific cutoffs for coverage year 2026 [7].
Limitations and transparency note: the supplied search excerpts confirm the structure and use of FPL values and point to HHS/ASPE as the authoritative publisher, but they do not include a quoted, complete numeric 2026 FPL table in the snippets you provided; therefore I have not invented specific dollar amounts and instead identified where those exact numbers are published [1] [3] [2].