Essential Plan Income Limits for 2026

The 2026 thresholds

Each additional person adds $5,680 to 100% FPL. Annual figures.

These are the 2026 federal poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and D.C., which took effect in January. Alaska and Hawaii use higher figures; New York uses these.

What counts as income

Counted: wages, self-employment income, tips, unemployment benefits, Social Security retirement and disability benefits, pensions, rental income, interest and dividends, alimony from agreements before 2019.

Not counted: SNAP, most child support, workers’ compensation, veterans’ disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income, gifts, one-time inheritances.

Reduced by: certain pre-tax deductions — retirement contributions, HSA contributions, deductible self-employment expenses. This is the part people miss, and it’s the most common legitimate way a household lands under a threshold it appeared to be over.

Who counts as your household

Generally the people on your tax return: you, your spouse, and dependents you claim — regardless of whether they live with you. Not roommates. Not a partner you don’t file with.

Household size is the other legitimate lever: adding a dependent moves the threshold by $5,680 at 100% FPL, which is $11,360 at the 200% line.

Which year’s income

The year you’re applying for, projected. If you lost a job in March, you don’t use January’s rate of pay projected across twelve months. If you started a better job in June, you don’t use last year’s tax return.

For irregular income — gig work, seasonal hours, cash pay — estimate honestly, keep whatever records you have, and report changes when they happen. Reporting a change is a routine transaction, not a red flag. Not reporting one is what creates problems at reconciliation.

If you’re just over the line

Recheck household size. A dependent you didn’t count changes the threshold materially.

Recheck pre-tax deductions. Retirement and HSA contributions reduce the income figure that counts. So do legitimate self-employment expenses, which the self-employed routinely fail to subtract before comparing themselves to a threshold.

Then accept the marketplace, and optimize it. Just over 200% FPL means a marketplace plan with tax credits, which is not a disaster — but the plan you’re placed in automatically is often not the cheapest one for your actual usage. What to check.