HUD Issues Fair Market Rents for Fiscal Year 2025

The FMRs go into effect on Oct. 1.

HUD is required by law to set Fair Market Rents (FMRs) every year. In general, the FMR for an area is the amount that a tenant would need to pay the gross rent (rent plus utilities) of privately owned, decent, and safe rental housing of a modest (non-luxury) nature with suitable amenities. The published FMRs represent HUD’s best effort to estimate the 40th percentile gross rent paid by recent movers into standard quality units in each FMR area.

FMRs also are an important part of the LIHTC program. FMRs impact the income limits used for determining who qualifies to live in LIHTC units and how much tenants pay to rent that home in high housing cost (HHC) areas. In addition, many LIHTC units are occupied by tenants who are using Housing Choice Vouchers. FMRs also play an important role in setting the high HOME rents.

For 2025, HUD has updated the methodology for calculating FMRs using the most recent data from the American Community Survey (ACS). These adjustments ensure that FMRs reflect current market conditions more accurately, benefiting residents and property owners alike. Also, HUD has expanded the use of Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) to additional metropolitan areas. SAFMRs focus on ZIP Code-level data to better capture variations within metropolitan areas.

The FMRs go into effect on Oct. 1, but PHAs have three months to adjust their payment standards. The FY 2025 FMRs are available at www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html.