What are the exact 2025 federal poverty guidelines used to calculate 2026 ACA subsidy eligibility by household size?
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Executive summary
The 2025 Federal Poverty Guidelines — the official metric used to determine eligibility for 2026 Marketplace (ACA) premium tax credits — set 100% FPL at $15,650 for a single person and $32,150 for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states; eligibility for standard ACA subsidies in 2026 generally runs from 100% to 400% of those figures (so $15,650–$62,600 for one person and $32,150–$128,600 for a family of four) [1]. The definitive, full table of 2025 poverty guideline amounts (including Alaska and Hawaii and per‑person additions for households larger than eight) is published by HHS/ASPE and used for all ACA subsidy computations for coverage year 2026 [2].
1. What “exact” numbers matter for 2026 ACA subsidy eligibility
For calculating 2026 premium tax credit eligibility, the government compares a household’s projected 2026 income to the 2025 Federal Poverty Guidelines; the critical anchor points are the 100% FPL amounts (the poverty line) and their multiples (e.g., 138% for Medicaid expansion thresholds, 250% for some cost‑sharing reductions, and 400% for the upper limit of traditional premium tax credit eligibility if enhanced subsidies are not extended) [3] [4] [1]. Published guidance and subsidy calculators therefore use the 2025 guideline table as the exact baseline for every household size when assessing whether a projected income falls within the eligible bands for 2026 coverage [4] [2].
2. The headline figures frequently cited — single and family of four
Multiple consumer and policy outlets reporting on 2026 marketplace eligibility state that the 2025 100% FPL equals $15,650 for an individual and $32,150 for a family of four, making the 400% ceilings $62,600 and $128,600 respectively for coverage year 2026 calculations if the temporary 400% enhancement is not continued by Congress [1] [5]. Those dollar figures are what most enrollers and calculators will use as the “exact” thresholds when telling a consumer whether their income falls inside the subsidy window for 2026 coverage [4] [5].
3. Full household‑size table and Alaska/Hawaii differences — the authoritative source
The complete set of 2025 poverty guideline cells by household size — which program administrators and tax software use to compute exact eligibility for any household size — is published by HHS/ASPE; that official table (the 2025 Poverty Guidelines PDF) is the definitive reference for the contiguous 48 states and includes the separate Alaska and Hawaii numbers and instructions for adding amounts per additional household member beyond the table’s listed sizes [2]. Secondary sites and calculators republish the table for consumers, but the ASPE document is the authoritative source used in federal rulemaking and Marketplace tech systems [2].
4. Conflicting “add‑on” figures and why it matters
Consumer sites and one reference doc disagree in their snippets about the precise per‑person add‑on amount used for households larger than eight (some pages cite approximately $6,880 per extra person while other reference charts cite about $5,380–$5,500), creating potential confusion for users with very large households; that discrepancy shows why the ASPE table (and the Federal Register/IRS guidance that cites it) should be consulted for exact arithmetic when dealing with nonstandard household sizes [3] [6]. The reporting landscape includes replicated tables and paraphrases, so reconciling add‑on figures requires checking the ASPE PDF or the Federal Register notice referenced by the policy documents [2] [6].
5. Practical takeaway and where to check the exact values
The simple consumer takeaways are exact and usable: 100% FPL is $15,650 for one person and $32,150 for four persons, and 2026 ACA subsidy eligibility is calculated by comparing projected income to multiples of those 2025 figures — but for every household size and for Alaska/Hawaii, the full ASPE 2025 poverty guideline table should be consulted because some secondary sites differ on per‑person additions beyond eight members [1] [2] [3]. When precision matters (tax reporting, employer affordability tests, or large households), use the HHS/ASPE published 2025 table and the related Federal Register/IRS notices cited in policy guidance [2] [6].