IRS housing and utilities standards: what your county allows
Pick your state and county, the household size and the rent or mortgage you pay with utilities. The calculator shows the county figure and how much of your housing cost the IRS will count.
- In force since
- June 29, 2026
- Counties and county equivalents
- 3,223
- Household columns
- one to five or more
- Highest, one person (Marin County)
- $4,397
Allowable monthly expenses
$7,880
Remaining monthly income: $1,520. That is the least the IRS expects as a payment when it asks for a financial statement.
| Food, clothing and other items | $1,857 |
| Housing and utilities (standard $4,153) | $4,153 |
| Vehicle ownership and operating | $650 |
| Health care out of pocket and insurance | $520 |
| Taxes, child care, court orders | $700 |
Kings County, New York; car costs at the New York figure. IRS Collection Financial Standards effective June 29, 2026.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · rules and rates read on irs.gov · not tax advice, the IRS decides
The IRS housing and utilities standard is the most the IRS will count each month for the cost of your main home when it measures ability to pay for a large payment plan, hardship status or an offer in compromise. It is set for every county and for Puerto Rico, in five columns for households of one, two, three, four, and five or more people, and the current figures took effect on June 29, 2026. It covers rent or mortgage, property tax, interest, insurance, maintenance and repairs, and all utilities including gas, electricity, water, trash, phone, cell phone, cable and internet. The IRS allows the lesser of what you pay and the standard. For three people the standard ranges from $2,427 in Maricopa County to $4,153 in Kings County, Brooklyn. A Brooklyn household paying $4,700 has $547 a month left out, which raises the minimum lump-sum offer in compromise by $6,564.
The ten most populous counties
The table gives the monthly standard for each household size in the counties where the most Americans live. The figures are taken from the IRS county tables, which the IRS warns run to 125 printed pages; the calculator above holds all 3,223 of them.
| County | One | Two | Three | Four | Five or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, California | $3,001 | $3,525 | $3,714 | $4,141 | $4,208 |
| Cook County, Illinois | $2,299 | $2,700 | $2,845 | $3,172 | $3,223 |
| Harris County, Texas | $2,153 | $2,529 | $2,665 | $2,971 | $3,019 |
| Maricopa County, Arizona | $1,961 | $2,303 | $2,427 | $2,706 | $2,750 |
| San Diego County, California | $3,057 | $3,590 | $3,783 | $4,218 | $4,286 |
| Orange County, California | $3,191 | $3,748 | $3,949 | $4,403 | $4,474 |
| Miami-Dade County, Florida | $2,474 | $2,906 | $3,062 | $3,414 | $3,469 |
| Dallas County, Texas | $2,199 | $2,582 | $2,721 | $3,034 | $3,083 |
| Kings County, New York | $3,356 | $3,941 | $4,153 | $4,631 | $4,705 |
| Riverside County, California | $2,510 | $2,948 | $3,106 | $3,463 | $3,519 |
Between the nation's extremes the gap is wide. The highest single-person figure is $4,397 in Marin County, California; the lowest is $840 in Maricao Municipio, Puerto Rico. Within one state the spread can be nearly as large: in Texas, a family of three is allowed $3,440 in Collin County and $1,448 in Foard County. The steps between columns are uneven: in Los Angeles County a second person adds $524, a third $189, a fourth $427 and the fifth column only $67, and that last column covers every household of five or more.
What the figure covers, and what it does not
The standard is a single envelope for the primary residence. For a renter it holds rent and every utility; for an owner it holds the mortgage payment with interest, property taxes, homeowner's insurance, maintenance and repairs, plus the same utilities. Cell phones, cable and internet are inside it, so they cannot be listed again elsewhere. A second home, a vacation property or a rental you own is not a living expense at all; its equity counts as an asset instead.
The household size is generally the number of people claimed on your latest return. When others share the home and pay part of the costs, the IRS looks at the household's income as a whole on Form 433-A (OIC), so their share of the rent and their income both enter the picture.
Owners: the payment is capped, the equity is counted
For a homeowner the standard works on the monthly cost, not on the house. The mortgage payment, property tax and insurance are added to the utilities and compared with the county figure, and the lesser amount is allowed. The house itself shows up somewhere else on Form 433-A (OIC): its market value times 80 %, minus the loan, is equity that the IRS counts toward an offer. So an owner in an expensive county can see both effects at once, a monthly allowance that does not cover the full mortgage and a home equity line that raises the minimum offer. A paid-off home has no mortgage to cap but all of its quick-sale value counts as equity, as the line-by-line example shows for a Phoenix-area family.
A home that is for sale, or that the owner plans to sell to fund an offer, is flagged on the form with its listing price. The Form 656 booklet adds that if property is sold before the lien is released, excess sale proceeds may be applied to the tax debt, even when an offer has been accepted.
A Brooklyn renter over the line
Take a household of three in Kings County, New York, with $9,400 of gross monthly income and rent and utilities of $4,700. The county standard for three is $4,153, so $547 of the housing cost is not allowed. The remaining income the IRS sees rises by that amount every month, and on an offer in compromise it is multiplied.
| Rent counted in full | Rent capped at the standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing allowed | $4,700 | $4,153 |
| Total allowable expenses | $8,427 | $7,880 |
| Remaining monthly income | $973 | $1,520 |
| Future income in a lump-sum offer (× 12) | $11,676 | $18,240 |
| Future income in a periodic offer (× 24) | $23,352 | $36,480 |
Your rent against the county figure
Allowable monthly expenses
$7,880
| Food, clothing and other items | $1,857 |
| Housing and utilities (standard $4,153) | $4,153 |
| Vehicle ownership and operating | $650 |
| Health care out of pocket and insurance | $520 |
The same rule works the other way. A household paying less than the standard is allowed only what it pays, so a low rent does not create a cushion that can be spent on something else. Moving to a cheaper home lowers the allowance too.
When the standard is not enough
The IRS can allow actual housing costs above the county figure when the taxpayer documents that the standards leave too little for basic living expenses, for example a home adapted for a disability or a lease that cannot be broken. In a payment plan that pays the balance in full within six years, the six-year rule also allows living costs above the standards without proof of reasonableness. Outside those cases the excess is treated as money that could go to the IRS. The figures in this page come from the published tables; whether an exception applies to a given household is decided by the IRS, and this is not tax advice.