Data sources and method

Eligibility check

• Geocoding: U.S. Census Bureau geocoder (geocoding.geo.census.gov), current benchmark and vintage.
• Ineligible areas: USDA Rural Development’s eligibility map service, layer 4 “RHS SFH MFH” (the current single family and multifamily housing map), layer 6 (proposed areas from 2020 census data) and layer 7 (the previous map), at rdgdwe.sc.egov.usda.gov. Polygons in layer 4 carry an effective date of July 25, 2023. The check runs live each time.

Income limits

USDA Rural Development, FY2026 Multi-Family Housing income limits (usdaminc.sc.egov.usda.gov), revised and effective July 13, 2026. We keep the “RD 538 GUAR MOD INC” row for each area. USDA’s footnote: the limit is 115% of AMI for a four-person household, with other sizes scaled by HUD’s household size adjustment factors. One area (Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA) has its row printed under the page footnote in USDA’s PDF, so we show it as unavailable rather than guess.

County pages name the income limit area we matched to the county: by county name for nonmetro counties and carved-out metro counties, and by the OMB metropolitan area title (Census Bureau’s July 2023 delineation file) for the rest. Confirm the area against USDA’s table before you rely on it.

Section 538 loans

USDA Rural Development, Section 538 guaranteed loan public data, file dated October 19, 2026 (sc.egov.usda.gov/data/MFH.html), with USDA’s July 2016 data dictionary.

Section 515 and 514 properties

USDA Rural Development, active Section 515 rural rental and Section 514 farm labor housing properties, report date October 19, 2026 (file posted October 17, 2026), with USDA’s April 2016 data dictionary. County names come from the Census Bureau’s 2020 county list.

Program rules

• 42 U.S.C. 1490 (sec. 520 rural area) and 1490p-2 (sec. 538)
• 7 CFR part 3565, eCFR current to October 2026; 7 CFR 3560.152 and 3560.203 for Section 515 tenants
• 89 FR 104031 (December 20, 2024): application process, no interest credit, priority scoring
• 91 FR 60930 (September 25, 2026): preservation pilot, 1.11x DSCR, Option 3 loan-to-cost
• 91 FR 61820 (September 30, 2026): guarantee fees
• Pub. L. 119-37: fiscal 2026 program level and no interest subsidy

Refreshing

sh scripts/refresh_usda.sh downloads the USDA files and scripts/build_data.py rebuilds the JSON the pages are made from. USDA posts new 538 and 515 files at the end of each fiscal and calendar year.