Philadelphia, PA Section 8 Payment Standards (2025)

Not legal advice — verify current state law and have an attorney review for your state. Payment standards change, and the housing authority's rent-reasonableness review, utility allowance and the family's income decide what it will actually pay. Verify the current amount with the housing authority before you set a rent.

Official schedule. Effective November 1, 2025 (tenant-based vouchers; latest tenant-based schedule posted when retrieved).^[1] Retrieved October 21, 2026.

Payment standards

Schedule	SRO	Studio	1 BR	2 BR	3 BR	4 BR	5 BR	6 BR
Group 1: Basic Rents	$825	$1,100	$1,190	$1,420	$1,700	$1,900	$2,185	$2,470
Group 2: Traditional Rents	$960	$1,280	$1,390	$1,660	$1,990	$2,220	$2,553	$2,886
Group 3: Mid Range Rents	$1,162	$1,550	$1,690	$2,010	$2,410	$2,690	$3,093	$3,497
Group 4: Opportunity Rents	$1,350	$1,800	$1,960	$2,330	$2,790	$3,120	$3,588	$4,056
Group 5: High Opportunity Rents	$1,575	$2,100	$2,280	$2,720	$3,260	$3,640	$4,186	$4,732

PHA assigns every Philadelphia ZIP code to one of the five groups. Use the ZIP list and map in PHA's PDF to find your group.

PHA applies the payment standard for the voucher size, not the unit's bedroom count.

PHA uses HUD's citywide FMRs only for project-based programs, not tenant-based vouchers.

HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents: Philadelphia County, PA

HUD area: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA. A housing authority's schedule can be based on an earlier FMR year or on ZIP-level Small Area FMRs, so it won't always match these figures.

Unit size	FY2027 FMR
Studio	$1,438^[3]
1 BR	$1,558^[3]
2 BR	$1,860^[3]
3 BR	$2,216^[3]
4 BR	$2,445^[3]

Full Philadelphia County FMR page

How landlords use this

It caps the subsidy, not your rent

The payment standard is the most the housing authority will count toward rent plus tenant-paid utilities. The rent still has to pass its rent-reasonableness review.

The 40% rule at move-in

For a new lease, if the gross rent is above the payment standard, the family's share can't be more than 40% of its monthly adjusted income.

Treat every applicant the same

Use the same written screening criteria for voucher holders as for everyone else. Many states and cities prohibit refusing renters because they pay with a voucher; check your local law.

Sources

PHA, Payment Standards page (retrieved October 21, 2026): https://www.pha.phila.gov/housing/housing-choice-voucher/payment-standards/
PHA, Payment Standard Schedule by Neighborhood ZIP Code, effective 11/1/2025 (PDF) (retrieved October 21, 2026): https://www.pha.phila.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Payment-Standard-Schedule-November-2025.pdf
HUD USER, FY2027 Fair Market Rents, county-level file (FY27_FMRs.xlsx) (retrieved October 21, 2026): https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2027/FY27_FMRs.xlsx

Philadelphia, PA Section 8 payment standards