Nearly every ACA eligibility line — whether a household qualifies for Medicaid, for the enhanced cost-sharing silver plans, or for a premium tax credit at all — is defined as a percentage of the Federal Poverty Level for that household's size. This dataset lists the 2026 FPL for household sizes 1 through 8, the 100% / 138% / 250% / 400% MAGI thresholds computed from it, the required-contribution (applicable-percentage) schedule that sets the premium subsidy, and which jurisdictions have not adopted Medicaid expansion. All figures come straight from the same engine that powers QuantCalc's ACA-bridge planner.
What this is: A structured, reusable snapshot of the FPL numbers that every ACA subsidy calculation starts from — the household-size FPL table, the four MAGI thresholds computed from it, the applicable-percentage schedule, and the expansion-status list. See the ACA Bridge Income Plan study for a worked, year-by-year example of steering income between these thresholds during an early-retirement bridge to Medicare, and the State Social Security Tax dataset for the state-tax side of the same retirees' picture.
2026 FPL and MAGI thresholds by household size
The 100% FPL column is the 2026 Federal Poverty Level for the 48 contiguous states and DC. The remaining columns are that figure multiplied by the standard ACA program percentages: 138% (the Medicaid-expansion ceiling), 250% (the cost-sharing-reduction ceiling), and 400% (the premium-subsidy cliff). For households larger than 8, add $5,500 to the 100% FPL per additional member, then apply the same multiples.
| Household Size | 100% FPL (annual) | 138% FPL (Medicaid expansion) | 250% FPL (CSR ceiling) | 400% FPL (subsidy cliff) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,650 | $21,597 | $39,125 | $62,600 |
| 2 | $21,150 | $29,187 | $52,875 | $84,600 |
| 3 | $26,650 | $36,777 | $66,625 | $106,600 |
| 4 | $32,150 | $44,367 | $80,375 | $128,600 |
| 5 | $37,650 | $51,957 | $94,125 | $150,600 |
| 6 | $43,150 | $59,547 | $107,875 | $172,600 |
| 7 | $48,650 | $67,137 | $121,625 | $194,600 |
| 8 | $54,150 | $74,727 | $135,375 | $216,600 |
CC-BY-4.0 — free for any use including republication and journalism, with attribution to QuantCalc Research.
Applicable-percentage schedule (2026 current law)
The premium tax credit caps a household's benchmark-plan premium at a set share of its income — the applicable percentage — which rises with income as a share of FPL. Under current law for 2026, the ARPA/IRA enhanced schedule (0%–8.5%, no cliff) has lapsed, so the indexed statutory schedule below applies, with no premium subsidy above 400% FPL.
| Income (% of FPL) | Required contribution (% of income) |
|---|---|
| 0%–133% of FPL | 2.10% (flat) |
| 133%–150% of FPL | 3.14% → 4.19% |
| 150%–200% of FPL | 4.19% → 6.60% |
| 200%–250% of FPL | 6.60% → 8.44% |
| 250%–300% of FPL | 8.44% → 9.96% |
| 300%–400% of FPL | 9.96% (flat) |
| Above 400% of FPL | No subsidy (cliff) |
Below 133% FPL the cap is a flat 2.10%; at 133% it steps up to 3.14% and then ramps by band to 9.96% across 300%–400% FPL. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25 §3.01.
Medicaid-expansion status
In the 41 expansion jurisdictions, adults below 138% FPL qualify for Medicaid rather than a marketplace subsidy. In the 10 non-expansion states below, an adult below 100% FPL who does not otherwise qualify for Medicaid falls into the coverage gap — too poor for a marketplace subsidy, ineligible for that state's Medicaid. The 10 non-expansion jurisdictions as of 2026:
Methodology
Source: The FPL table (FPL_2026, FPL_2026_PER_ADDITIONAL), the applicable-percentage schedule (ACA_APPLICABLE_PCT), and the non-expansion list (NON_EXPANSION_STATES) are read directly from QuantCalc's single canonical client-side constants module (frontend/js/calc/constants-2026.js), whose values are transcribed verbatim from the frozen C engine (backend/src/aca_bridge_optimizer.c) and held in lock-step with it by an exhaustive JS↔C parity sweep. Nothing tax-related on this page is hand-typed.
Computed columns: The 138% / 250% / 400% MAGI columns are the 100% FPL figure multiplied by the corresponding ACA program percentage and rounded to the nearest dollar. Those four multiples (100/138/250/400) are ACA program thresholds — the Medicaid-expansion floor, the CSR ceiling, and the premium-subsidy cliff — not tax data.
Regime: Under current law for 2026, the ARPA/IRA enhanced premium credits (0%–8.5% cap, no cliff) EXPIRED after 2025 and S. 3385 to extend them did not pass, so the indexed §36B applicable-percentage schedule (2.10%–9.96%) WITH the 400% FPL cliff applies. The engine carries a compiled-out switch for a retroactive extension; this dataset documents the current-law schedule the engine actually runs.
Scope: FPL figures are the 48-contiguous-states + DC guidelines; Alaska and Hawaii use higher FPL tables not modeled here. This dataset lists thresholds and the schedule; it does NOT compute a specific household's subsidy (that depends on the benchmark Silver premium, age, and state) — see the ACA Bridge Income Plan study for worked household examples.
Reproducibility: Generated by scripts/gen_aca_fpl_dataset.mjs, which reads the constants module and writes this page plus the CSV/JSON alongside it. Re-running against the same constants reproduces byte-identical data rows.
Not tax advice: Reference data for research and planning, not a substitute for professional tax or benefits advice. ACA rules change; verify against HealthCare.gov or a qualified advisor before making decisions.
Turn these thresholds into a conversion plan
Staying under the 400% FPL cliff — or above the Medicaid line — while doing Roth conversions is a year-by-year balancing act. The Roth Conversion Planner models how each dollar of conversion income moves you across these thresholds for your own numbers.
Plan your Roth conversions →Changelog
- v2026.1 — initial release. 8 household sizes, the four MAGI thresholds, the current-law 2026 applicable-percentage schedule, and the 10-state non-expansion list, generated from the frozen ACA-bridge engine constants.
Dataset license: CC-BY-4.0. QuantCalc is an independent retirement-planning research project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any government agency, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or the IRS. Not financial, tax, or legal advice.
Cite this dataset
QuantCalc Research (2026). ACA Federal Poverty Level Thresholds 2026. https://quantcalc.app/data/aca-fpl-2026/ (accessed <date>).
BibTeX
@misc{quantcalc2026acafederalpovertylevelthresholds2026,
title = {ACA Federal Poverty Level Thresholds 2026},
author = {{QuantCalc Research}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://quantcalc.app/data/aca-fpl-2026/},
note = {Accessed <date>}
}Machine-readable citation metadata (schema.org identifier and citation fields) is embedded in this page's JSON-LD, at the stable identifier https://quantcalc.app/data/aca-fpl-2026/.