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California Housing Choice Voucher program — the agencies, the wait lists, and what to expect

California has more public housing authorities than any other state — more than 80 of them, spread from small rural county offices in the Central Valley and far north up to the large city agencies in San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento. This page will help guide you on Section 8 in California, including where to apply and how the program works.

• KEY NOTE: Los Angeles County has its own separate page because of the number of agencies there. See the Los Angeles County section 8 housing page.

The Housing Choice Voucher program they administer is federally funded — every voucher is a HUD voucher — but what happens when you apply, how long you wait, and whether a landlord will take your voucher depend heavily on two things that are specific to California: which of the state's many agencies covers your exact address, and whether your city or county has local rules about landlords accepting vouchers.

If you qualify for and receive a voucher, you pay roughly 30% of your adjusted monthly income toward rent and the housing authority pays the rest directly to your landlord, up to local payment limits. That part is the same everywhere in the country. Everything else about applying for Section 8 in California is shaped by where you live and when you apply. This is not a crisis program, and if you need immediate rental assistance see the page about programs in California that help pay rent.

In most of California, a landlord cannot legally refuse your voucher

This is the most important difference between California and most other states. In the majority of California cities, a landlord cannot refuse to rent to you simply because you are paying with a Section 8 voucher. In addition, local rules in cities including San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, and San Diego prohibit landlords from turning away applicants based on their payment source alone.

What this means when you are searching for housing: you may still be screened on income, credit history, and rental history — and those requirements still apply. But the flat response of "we don't take Section 8" that is legal in many other states is not lawful in most of California's major cities.

The rule is not statewide, and it does not cover everywhere. Smaller cities, unincorporated county areas, and rural communities often do not have these local protections. Before you start searching for a rental, ask your housing authority whether landlords in your target area are required to accept vouchers. That answer will shape your approach.

Also be aware that some landlords set income requirements — asking you to earn two or three times the full monthly rent — that most voucher holders cannot meet. That practice is legal even in cities with source-of-income protections. If you run into it, ask your housing authority for their list of landlords who have rented to voucher holders before. Those are the landlords worth calling first.

Wait lists in California are usually measured in years

California's Section 8 wait lists are among the longest in the country. In the major coastal cities, waits of five to ten years are not unusual. San Francisco's housing authority had its wait list closed for more than a decade. Most large agencies in the state open their lists briefly, sometimes only for a few days, and then close them again when more applicants are waiting than the agency can serve.

What to do: Apply to every open list you can find, not just the one in your city. Check agency websites and call regularly — openings come without much notice. When a list opens, apply the same day. The only constraint is that after you receive a voucher from a given agency, you generally have to stay in that agency's service area for twelve months before moving the voucher elsewhere.

Project-based vouchers are worth asking about specifically. A project-based voucher is attached to a particular apartment building rather than going with you as a tenant. You apply directly to that building's wait list. These lists often move faster than the general housing choice voucher wait list, and they are sometimes open even when the main list is closed. San Francisco, Sacramento, and Oakland all have project-based properties with separate lists. If you take a project-based unit and stay for twelve months, you can typically request a regular tenant-based voucher from the agency — which gives you the flexibility to move later.

Two types of vouchers, two different paths

The standard Housing Choice Voucher goes to you as the tenant, and you take it to any landlord willing to accept it in the agency's service area. It moves with you if you move within that area, and after twelve months you can transfer it to another housing authority anywhere in the country.

A Project-Based Voucher is attached to a specific apartment — you apply to that building's wait list rather than searching for your own unit. If you leave before twelve months, the subsidy stays with the apartment, not with you.

Given how long standard voucher lists are in California's coastal cities, project-based units are often the more practical path to housing in a reasonable amount of time. Oakland's housing authority, SHRA in Sacramento, and several Bay Area agencies have project-based properties with lists that open more regularly than the main voucher list. Ask every agency you contact: which project-based properties do you manage, and which ones have an open list right now?

Major housing authorities in California

Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco (SFHA) — San Francisco. 1815 Egbert Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94124. (415) 715-3276. Website: https://sfha.org/. SFHA administers vouchers for San Francisco and manages one of the most sought-after programs in the state. The wait list has been closed for extended periods and reopens only briefly. San Francisco's source-of-income rules apply citywide. When the list opens, apply the same day — it closes quickly. The city's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing also runs local programs that may serve people while they wait.

San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) — City of San Diego. 1122 Broadway, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92101. (619) 231-9400. Website: https://sdhc.org/. SDHC administers vouchers for the City of San Diego. A separate agency — the Housing Authority of the County of San Diego, (858) 694-4801, at 3989 Ruffin Road, San Diego, CA 92123 — covers unincorporated areas and smaller cities in the region. If you are not sure which one covers your address, call both.

Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) — Sacramento City and County. 801 12th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 440-1319. Website: https://www.shra.org/. SHRA serves both the City of Sacramento and Sacramento County from the same office. If you live anywhere in Sacramento County — including smaller cities in the county — SHRA is your agency. It is one of the few California agencies that combines city and county service under one roof.

Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) — City of Oakland. 1619 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA 94612. (510) 874-1500. Website: https://www.oakha.org/. OHA serves Oakland with one of the Bay Area's larger voucher programs. The wait list is often closed. Oakland has source-of-income protections citywide. OHA is a separate agency from the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda and from Berkeley — your exact address determines which one applies to you.

Housing Authority of the County of Alameda — Hayward. 22941 Atherton Street, Hayward, CA 94541. (510) 538-8876. Website: https://www.haca.net/. This agency covers unincorporated Alameda County and cities that do not run their own programs, including Fremont, Union City, Dublin, Newark, and San Leandro. It does not cover Oakland or Berkeley, which each have their own agencies.

Santa Clara County Housing Authority — San Jose. 505 West Julian Street, San Jose, CA 95110. (408) 275-8770. Website: https://www.scchousingauthority.org/. The county agency covers all of Santa Clara County, including the City of San Jose, which does not run a separate program. This is one of the Bay Area's larger agencies. San Jose has source-of-income protections. The agency also runs programs for veterans and other priority groups — ask specifically about those if you qualify.

Orange County Housing Authority — Santa Ana. 1501 E. St. Andrew Place, First Floor, Santa Ana, CA 92705. (714) 480-2700. Website: https://www.ochousing.org/. The county agency serves unincorporated areas and many cities in Orange County. Several cities — Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana — operate their own separate housing authorities. If you live in one of those cities, apply with the city agency as well as the county agency, since each has its own wait list.

Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino (HACSB) — San Bernardino. 715 E. Brier Drive, San Bernardino, CA 92408. (909) 890-0644. HACSB covers a large service area stretching from the western Inland Empire to the desert communities near the Nevada and Arizona borders. It operates both public housing and the Section 8 voucher program.

Housing Authority of the County of Riverside — Riverside. 5555 Arlington Avenue, Riverside, CA 92504. (951) 351-0700. Website: https://harivco.org/. Covers unincorporated Riverside County and many of its cities. The county extends from suburban western communities to the desert cities of the Coachella Valley. Check wait list status directly with the agency.

Housing Authority City of Fresno / Housing Authority of Fresno County — Fresno. 1331 Fulton Street, Fresno, CA 93721. (559) 443-8400. The city and county agencies share an office and work closely together. Together they serve the Central Valley region, including a large population of agricultural families. Fresno's rental market is more affordable than the coast, which can make it somewhat easier to find a landlord willing to accept a voucher once you have one.

Housing Authority of the County of Kern — Bakersfield. 601 24th Street, Bakersfield, CA 93301. (661) 631-8500. Website: https://kernha.org/. Kern County serves an area that includes farming communities, oil-producing towns, and mountain communities across a large service area centered on Bakersfield. The agency runs both public housing and the Section 8 voucher program.

Housing Authority of the County of Contra Costa — Martinez. 3133 Estudillo Street, Martinez, CA 94553. (925) 957-8001. Website: https://contracostaha.org/. Covers the East Bay county and its communities. Note that Pittsburg, Livermore, and Richmond each have separate city agencies — residents of those cities should start with their city agency.

Housing Authority of the County of Ventura — Newbury Park. 1400 W Hillcrest Drive, Newbury Park, CA 91320. (805) 480-9991. Website: https://www.ahacv.org/. Covers unincorporated Ventura County and most of its cities. Oxnard and the City of Ventura each have their own separate housing authorities and are not covered by the county agency.

Stanislaus Regional Housing Authority — Modesto. 1612 Sisk Road, Modesto, CA 95350. (209) 557-2002. Serves Modesto and surrounding communities in Stanislaus County. Operates both public housing and the voucher program. The Central Valley location means more affordable rents than coastal areas.

Berkeley Housing Authority — Berkeley. 1947 Center Street, 5th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 488-5470. Berkeley operates its own program, separate from both Alameda County and Oakland. Source-of-income protections apply within Berkeley. The wait list is long given the city's rental market. Apply here and also to Alameda County if you are open to housing in surrounding areas.

Community Discussion

The access to income based housing and section 8 is always limited. Sometimes others in the area may have tips, suggestions or feedback on options. Or share you own advice. We have a forum thread dedicated to it. There you can read real experiences from people across CA, ask questions to others about section 8 and/or housing authorities and so much more on the CA section 8 program - housing authority forum.

Full directory — California housing authorities (outside LA County)

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