How do the 2025 federal poverty guidelines differ by state or Alaska and Hawaii adjustments?
Executive summary
The 2025 HHS poverty guidelines set a baseline FPL of $15,650 for an individual in the 48 contiguous states and D.C., with higher, separately listed figures for Alaska ($19,550) and Hawaii ($17,990) to reflect higher costs of living (examples and safe-harbor monthly figures cited) [1] [2]. Federal guidance and the Federal Register explain that Alaska and Hawaii receive distinct tables dating back to administrative practice in the 1960s and that the 2025 update reflects a 2.9% CPI-U increase used to adjust thresholds [3] [4].
1. What the 2025 guidelines say — the headline numbers
HHS’s 2025 poverty-guideline table lists $15,650 as the annual guideline for a single person in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.; Alaska’s single-person guideline is $19,550 and Hawaii’s is $17,990, and household-size increments differ by jurisdiction as shown in the official tables [2] [1]. Agencies such as USCIS and CMS reference these HHS figures for program eligibility, fee waivers, and benefit calculations [2] [4].
2. Why Alaska and Hawaii have different figures — administrative history and rationale
The Federal Register notes that “separate poverty guideline figures for Alaska and Hawaii reflect Office of Economic Opportunity administrative practice beginning in the 1966–1970 period,” and modern updates continue to apply a CPI-U inflation adjustment and rounding rules to produce the separate tables [3]. HHS and implementing agencies state the differences are intended to reflect higher living costs in those states [3] [4].
3. How the state adjustments are applied in practice — program-by-program differences
Federal agencies and programs typically reference the HHS table but then apply program-specific rules (for example, rounding, income-counting, or using multiples of the guideline such as 138% or 150%) to determine eligibility; USCIS explicitly cites HHS guidelines for I-864 and notes programs determine how to round and define the household [2]. Medicaid guidance and LIHEAP materials illustrate that many programs use percentages of the guideline (e.g., 110% or 150%) and that Alaska/Hawaii adjustments carry through those calculations [5] [4].
4. Practical examples — employer/ACA and monthly safe-harbor figures
The 2025 FPL numbers are used to calculate ACA employer “affordability” safe-harbor monthly amounts; for example, the 9.02% affordability percentage applied to the mainland 2025 FPL gives $117.63/month for plan years starting Feb. 1, 2025 or later, while Alaska and Hawaii safe-harbors are higher ($146.95/month for Alaska and $135.22/month for Hawaii for 2025 FPL figures); earlier-plan-year rules mean some January 2025 plans use 2024 FPL-based monthly numbers instead [6] [1]. Those calculations show concretely how the Alaska/Hawaii adjustments raise program thresholds and employer safe-harbor tests [6].
5. Limits, variations, and common misunderstandings
HHS cautions that the “poverty guidelines” are different from Census “poverty thresholds” and are intended for administrative use; programs can and do treat guideline-based calculations differently [7]. Available sources do not list a single nationwide rule that converts the HHS Alaska/Hawaii figures into state-specific benefit amounts beyond the published separate tables and program-level multipliers—states and agencies apply those tables per their own eligibility rules (not found in current reporting).
6. Where to find authoritative tables and program guidance
HHS’s ASPE publishes the detailed 2025 poverty-guideline tables and an API with 2025 data; USCIS, Medicaid.gov, and other federal program pages cite and use the HHS tables for their own forms and notices [8] [7] [2] [4]. The Federal Register notice provides the official methodology and the inflation adjustment [3].
7. Competing perspectives and implications
Advocates for benefit expansion note that higher Alaska/Hawaii FPLs improve nominal eligibility but do not automatically eliminate local cost-of-living gaps or program access barriers; conversely, employers and compliance advisors emphasize practical implications for ACA affordability and reporting because the higher state-specific FPLs raise safe-harbor thresholds [1] [5]. Program administrators must reconcile HHS tables with their own statutory or regulatory limits, producing variation across states and programs [2] [5].
Limitations: this summary relies on HHS/ASPE tables, the Federal Register notice, and federal agency guidance in the provided sources; available sources do not provide a comprehensive state-by-state matrix of every program’s use of Alaska/Hawaii adjustments, so program-specific application must be checked with the administering agency [7] [3].