Calculators
USDA Loan Eligibility Check
Find out whether a USDA loan can be used for a home, using USDA's own map, without leaving this page. Then check your household income against the limit for that county.
- USDA's own map and income limits
- We don't save your address
Can this home get a USDA loan?
Type the address of the home. We check it against USDA's own map, right here on this page. Then you can check your household income. We do not save the address, and your income is not sent unless you choose to send your result to Samantha.
Enter an address to see whether a USDA loan can be used for that home.
Next: your household income
Count the yearly income of every adult who will live in the home, even if they will not be on the loan.
The address check reads USDA's eligibility map (in effect since July 25, 2023) and the income check uses USDA's FY 2026 moderate income limits (HB-1-3555, Appendix 5). USDA makes the final decision when a loan is submitted. This is not a credit decision or an offer. Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What USDA looks at
Three questions, in this order
Where is the home?
USDA home loans are for homes outside larger cities and their busiest suburbs. Many small towns and rural areas qualify, and so do some places closer in than people expect.
What does the household earn?
The yearly income of everyone 18 or older who will live in the home has to be at or under the county's limit, even if they will not be on the loan.
Does the payment fit?
USDA also looks at credit and at whether the payment fits the household's income. That part is the conversation to have with Samantha.
Michigan income limits
Most of Michigan: $122,800 for 1 to 4 people
USDA's FY 2026 limit for a household of 1 to 4 people is $122,800 in most Michigan counties, and $162,100 for 5 to 8. Six counties are higher:
Washtenaw
$153,550 for 1 to 4 people, $202,700 for 5 to 8.
Livingston
$150,200 for 1 to 4 people, $198,300 for 5 to 8.
Leelanau
$140,450 for 1 to 4 people, $185,400 for 5 to 8.
Grand Traverse
$130,950 for 1 to 4 people, $172,900 for 5 to 8.
Ottawa
$130,750 for 1 to 4 people, $172,600 for 5 to 8.
Midland
$123,250 for 1 to 4 people, $162,700 for 5 to 8.
Questions about USDA eligibility
If yours is not here, send Samantha the address and she will check it with you.
Who makes the final decision?
USDA does, when the loan is submitted. This check reads the same map USDA’s own website uses, so the answer here is a strong signal, but the final word is theirs.
The home isn’t eligible. What now?
A USDA loan can’t be used there, but other loans with a low down payment, and Michigan’s down payment help, may still work. See down payment help.
My income is a little over the limit. Is that the end?
Not always. USDA lowers the income it counts for each child under 18, for a household member 62 or older, and for some childcare and medical costs. Samantha can run those numbers with you.
Does the home have to be a farm?
No. USDA home loans are for a primary residence in an eligible area: a house in a small town or on a country road qualifies the same way.
Is a USDA loan only for first-time buyers?
No. You do not have to be a first-time buyer, but the home has to be the one you live in.
What does it mean if USDA has proposed a new map?
USDA has drafted new maps based on the 2020 Census that would move some addresses in or out. Nothing changes until USDA adopts them. If an address would change, the check tells you.
Keep going
If you are buying with a small down payment
USDA loans
How the program works and who it fits.
USDA loansDown payment help
Michigan programs that can help with the down payment.
Down payment helpLoan limits by county
FHA and conforming limits for every county we serve.
Loan limits by countyAll calculators
Every Align tool in one place, grouped by the question it answers.
All calculatorsAlign Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154, is a mortgage broker. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. The address check uses USDA's eligibility map and the income check uses USDA's FY 2026 moderate income limits (HB-1-3555, Appendix 5). USDA makes the final decision when a loan is submitted. To answer, the address is sent to the Census geocoder and only its map location to USDA's map, and it is not saved; your income is not sent unless you choose to send your result to Samantha (privacy). It is not a credit decision or an offer.
