Poverty Level Calculator
The federal poverty level decides who qualifies for Medicaid, SNAP and ACA health-insurance subsidies, and almost every program sets its cutoff as a percentage of it. This calculator takes your annual household income and a threshold percentage, computes the dollar figure, and shows whether the income sits above, at, or below that figure.
The calculator applies the percentage you enter to the income you enter: it does not look up HHS guidelines or ask for household size. The status line is a straight comparison of the two numbers, so read the dollar figure first. A household-size lookup is the planned enhancement, noted below.
Quick Answer
A family of four earning $33,000, the 2026 federal poverty guideline for that household size, checked against the 138% Medicaid-expansion threshold gives a poverty level of $45,540.00. Enter your annual income and a threshold percentage and the calculator returns the dollar figure plus an above/at/below verdict.
Key takeaways
- The calculator multiplies your income by the percentage you enter and divides by 100, then compares your income against the result.
- It does not know the HHS guidelines and does not ask for household size. The percentage must come from you; the 2026 table below has the figures programs actually use.
- The most useful pattern: enter your household's FPL figure as the income, enter the program percentage, and read off that program's dollar cutoff.
- The status line is a mechanical comparison of two numbers, not a benefits determination. The dollar figure is the actionable output.
- Quick Answer
- How to use the poverty level calculator
- The formula, and the inverse most people actually want
- What the status line really means
- Worked example: family of four at the 138% screen
- 2026 federal poverty guidelines by household size
- The program percentages that matter
- What competing calculators miss
- Frequently asked questions
- Add This Calculator to Your Website
- References
How to use the poverty level calculator
Two fields, one button. The worked example (a family of four at the 2026 poverty guideline, screened at 138%) is pre-filled; results stay hidden until you calculate.
- Enter your annual household income in dollars, before tax. For program cutoffs, enter the federal poverty guideline for your household size instead (find it in the 2026 table below); the result is then that program's dollar cutoff.
- Enter the threshold percentage. Use 100 for the poverty line itself, 130 for the SNAP gross-income screen, 138 for Medicaid expansion, or 400 for the ACA premium-tax-credit cap.
- Click Calculate poverty level. Read the big dollar figure first, then the status badge and the detail row underneath.
Both fields must be positive numbers; anything else stops with an error. Reset restores the worked-example values and hides the results.
The formula, and the inverse most people actually want
This calculator computes poverty level = (household income × threshold percentage) ÷ 100. With $33,000 and 138%, that is (33,000 × 138) ÷ 100 = $45,540.00.
Inverse: FPL % = (income ÷ FPL for household size) × 100
The inverse is the question most visitors arrive with: "what percent of the poverty level am I?" A family of three earning $40,000 divides by the 2026 three-person guideline of $27,320 and multiplies by 100, landing at about 146% of FPL. To see how that income compares with U.S. households overall, run the same figure through our income percentile calculator. This tool works the other direction, turning a known percentage into dollars. To bridge the two, enter the FPL figure for your household size as the income and the program percentage as the threshold; the dollar result is the cutoff that program compares you against. Health programs compare a tax-based measure called modified adjusted gross income (MAGI); the AGI calculator gives you the starting figure that MAGI builds on.
What the status line really means
Read this before trusting the badge. The verdict is a straight comparison of your income against the computed figure, and because the figure is a percentage of the income itself, the percentage alone decides the outcome:
- Threshold below 100% → your income is above the computed figure → Above Poverty Line.
- Threshold exactly 100% → the two numbers are equal → At Poverty Line.
- Threshold above 100% → your income is below the computed figure → Below Poverty Line.
That is why the dollar figure matters more than the badge. "Below Poverty Line" at 138% does not mean you are below the poverty line; it means your income sits below the 138% cutoff the tool just computed. The badge is honest arithmetic, not a benefits ruling: no calculator can determine eligibility, since every program adds its own household definition, deductions and asset tests on top of the income screen.
Worked example: family of four at the 138% screen
The 2026 federal poverty guideline for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states is $33,000, published by HHS and reproduced in the HealthCare.gov FPL glossary. Entering $33,000 as the income and 138 as the threshold gives (33,000 × 138) ÷ 100 = $45,540.00, with the verdict Below Poverty Line because $33,000 sits below $45,540.
That $45,540 is not a coincidence: it is exactly the published 2026 138%-of-FPL figure for a family of four, which is the Medicaid-expansion income cutoff in states that expanded the program. Feed the tool the official baseline and it reproduces the official table. A second check: a single person entering $15,960 at 100% gets $15,960.00 and At Poverty Line, the 2026 guideline for a one-person household.
2026 federal poverty guidelines by household size
HHS publishes the guidelines each January in the Federal Register; the 2026 figures below are the 48-contiguous-states set effective January 2026. Alaska (from $19,950 for one person) and Hawaii (from $18,360) run higher. Figures are rounded to whole dollars; individual programs apply their own rounding rules.
| Household size | 100% | 130% (SNAP) | 138% (Medicaid) | 200% | 400% (ACA cap) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,960 | $20,748 | $22,025 | $31,920 | $63,840 |
| 2 | $21,640 | $28,132 | $29,863 | $43,280 | $86,560 |
| 3 | $27,320 | $35,516 | $37,702 | $54,640 | $109,280 |
| 4 | $33,000 | $42,900 | $45,540 | $66,000 | $132,000 |
| 5 | $38,680 | $50,284 | $53,378 | $77,360 | $154,720 |
| 6 | $44,360 | $57,668 | $61,217 | $88,720 | $177,440 |
| 7 | $50,040 | $65,052 | $69,055 | $100,080 | $200,160 |
| 8 | $55,720 | $72,436 | $76,894 | $111,440 | $222,880 |
The program percentages that matter
Most programs never use 100% as the cutoff. Each sets its own multiple of the guideline, which is why the threshold field exists:
- SNAP (food stamps): gross monthly income below 130% of the guideline, about $42,900 a year for a family of four in 2026. Net-income and asset tests apply on top.
- Medicaid expansion: adults in expansion states qualify with household income up to 138% of FPL, about $45,540 for a family of four. Non-expansion states use lower, category-based limits.
- ACA marketplace subsidies: premium tax credits for households between 100% and 400% of FPL. The enhanced subsidies expired at the end of 2025, so for 2026 the original 400% cliff is back: a dollar over $132,000 for a family of four means no credit at all.
These multiples come from the program rules summarized against the official figures by LegalClarity's FPL guide, with the health-coverage bands confirmed in the HealthCare.gov glossary. A related but different measure is poverty depth: the average poverty gap calculator looks at how far below the line households fall, not just whether they cross it.
What competing calculators miss
Poverty tools split into three camps:
- Full FPL tools (federalpovertylevelcalculator.com): the real thing this page does not yet do, enter income plus household size and get your FPL percentage from the HHS table. That enhancement is flagged as pending below; this tool is the quicker threshold-percentage screener, not the replacement.
- Thin formula pages (CalculatorUltra, CalculatorDoc): the income-percentage formula and one example, but no current HHS figures, no program cutoffs, and no explanation of what the percentage is for.
- Stale official-figure pages: several ranking pages still show 2023–2025 guidelines in their examples, which silently moves every cutoff by hundreds of dollars.
- The gap this page fills: the live tool preserved exactly as built, wrapped in the current 2026 figures, the program multiples that give the percentage meaning, and an honest account of what the verdict does and does not say. No pretending a two-input screener is an eligibility determination.
Frequently asked questions
Divide your annual household income by the FPL figure for your household size and multiply by 100. A family of three earning $40,000 divides by the 2026 guideline of $27,320 to get about 146% of FPL. This calculator works the other direction: give it the FPL figure as the income and a program percentage, and it returns that program's dollar cutoff.
$33,000 a year in the 48 contiguous states and D.C., published by HHS. Alaska and Hawaii have higher guidelines: $41,250 and $37,950 respectively for a family of four.
It is the income cutoff for Medicaid expansion: adults in expansion states qualify with household income up to 138% of FPL. For a family of four in 2026 that is $45,540 a year. Enter 33000 as the income and 138 as the threshold above and the calculator returns exactly that figure.
Gross income below 130% of the poverty guideline, about $42,900 a year for a family of four in 2026. SNAP also applies net-income and asset tests, so the 130% screen is the first hurdle, not the whole application.
The HHS guideline itself is identical across the 48 contiguous states and D.C.; only Alaska and Hawaii get higher figures. What differs by state is which programs use which percentage: Medicaid expansion, for example, does not exist in every state.
Guidelines are the simplified HHS figures published each January for program eligibility; thresholds are the detailed Census Bureau figures used for statistics. When a program says "percent of the federal poverty level," it almost always means the HHS guidelines.
That is how this tool was built: it applies the percentage you enter to the income you enter. It does not look up HHS figures or ask for household size. The planned enhancement is a household-size lookup against the official table; until then, find your FPL figure in the 2026 table above and enter it as the income.
Not necessarily. The verdict only compares your income against the figure the tool computed: at any threshold above 100%, your income will read "below" by construction. If you entered your household's FPL figure as the income, "Below Poverty Line" at 138% means your income sits below that program's $45,540 cutoff, which is the result you would hope for at an eligibility screen.
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References
- HealthCare.gov. Federal Poverty Level (FPL) – Glossary: 2026 FPL table by family size; premium tax credits for 100–400% FPL; Medicaid eligibility below 138% FPL in expansion states. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research. 2026 HHS Poverty Guidelines: official figures citing Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 10 (January 15, 2026). Accessed October 23, 2026.
- Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation. U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines Used to Determine Financial Eligibility for Certain Federal Programs: guidelines issued annually in the Federal Register by HHS; 2026 figures by household size. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- LegalClarity. What Is the Federal Poverty Guideline and How Is It Used?: program multiples (SNAP 130%, Medicaid expansion 138%, ACA 400%); Alaska and Hawaii figures; guideline versus threshold distinction. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- George Washington University, Online Public Health. Poverty vs. Federal Poverty Level: FPL as a program-eligibility measure; 138% and 100% Medicaid bands. Accessed October 23, 2026.
- LegalClarity. What Is Considered Poverty Level: Income Limits by Size: 2026 guidelines by household size; Orshansky history of the poverty measure; household composition rules. Accessed October 23, 2026.