Affordable Housing:  Housing costs that are equal to or less than thirty percent (30%) of a homeowner or renter’s household income.

Area Median Income:  The income point at which one half of the incomes in a designated area fall below and one half falls above.  The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the area median income to calculate household eligibility for a variety of housing programs. HUD estimates the median family income for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas and adjusts that amount for different family sizes so that family incomes may be expressed as a percentage of the area median income.  For example, a family's income may equal 80 percent of the area median income, a common maximum income level for participation in HUD programs.  HUD periodically updates the area median income estimates.

Workforce Housing:  A term that is increasingly used by planners, government, and organizations concerned with housing policy or advocacy. It is gaining cachet with realtors, developers and lenders. Workforce housing can refer to any form of housing, including ownership of single or multi-family homes, as well as occupation of rental units. Workforce housing is generally understood to mean affordable housing for households with earned income that is insufficient to secure quality housing in reasonable proximity to the workplace.  The term "workforce" is meant to connote those who are gainfully employed, a group of people who are not typically understood to be the target of affordable housing programs. Workforce housing, then, implies an altered or expanded understanding of affordable housing. Workforce housing is commonly targeted at "essential workers" in a community i.e. police officers, firemen, teachers, nurses, medical personnel. Some communities define "essential" more broadly to include service workers, as in the case of resort communities where one finds high real estate costs and a high number of low-paying service jobs essential to the local economy. Workforce housing may be targeted more generally at certain income levels regardless of type of employment, with definitions ranging from 50% to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI).

Moderate Income:  Households whose total gross annual income is at or below one hundred twenty percent (120%) and above eighty percent (80%) of the median of the designated county in which the project is located as defined and published annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Low Income:  Households whose total gross annual income is at or below eighty percent (80%) and above fifty percent (50%) of the median of the designated county in which the project is located as defined and published annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Very Low Income:  Households whose total gross annual income is at or below fifty percent (50%) of the median of the designated county in which the project is located as defined and published annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Extremely Low Income:  Households whose total gross annual income is at or below fifty percent (30%) of the median of the designated county in which the project is located as defined and published annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.