UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Development – Rural Utilities Service

STAFF INSTRUCTION 1780-7 

SUBJECT: 2021 Poverty Guidelines

TO: State Directors, Rural Development and Community Program Directors 

EFFECTIVE DATE: Date of approval. 

OFFICE OF PRIMARY INTEREST: Assistant Administrator, Water and Environmental Programs. 

INSTRUCTIONS: File behind RUS Instruction 1780. This staff instructions supersedes and rescinds 

RUS Bulletin 1780-29, Annual Update of the Poverty Guidelines, effective February 1, 2020. 

AVAILABILITY: This staff instruction is available on 

https://usdagcc.sharepoint.com/sites/rd_rus_wep/SitePages/Home.aspx. 

PURPOSE: This staff instruction provides field offices with the revised poverty guidelines. 

_________________________________ ____________________ 

Scott A. Barringer Date

Acting Assistant Administrator 

Water and Environmental Programs
Staff Instruction 1780-7

Page 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 PURPOSE 3

2 POVERTY LINE RATES 3

3 INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF POVERY LINE RATES 3

INDEX:

Water and Environmental Program

Poverty Rates

ABBREVIATIONS

CFR – Code of Federal Regulations

CPAP - Commercial Programs Application Processing system

HHS – Health and Human Services

RUS – Rural Utilities Service

USDA – United States Department of Agriculture

DEFINITION

Poverty Line - means the level of income for a family of four, as defined in section 673(2) of the 

Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)).
Staff Instruction 1780-7

Page 3

1 PURPOSE

This staff instruction provides field offices with the revised poverty guidelines.

2 POVERTY LINE RATES

The poverty line referred to in 7 CFR 1780.3(a) (RUS Instruction 1780) is $26,500 per year for 

all States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Republic of the 

Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

Mariana Islands, and Palau except Alaska and Hawaii. The applicable poverty line is $33,130

for Alaska and $30,480 for Hawaii. These levels were established by the Department of Health 

and Human Services and published in the Federal Register February 1, 2021.

3 INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF POVERTY LINE RATES

A. The poverty line figure is to be inserted in the agency’s CPAP system, in Underwriting, 

USDA (Max Loan Amount), HHS Poverty Guidelines field. 

B. The poverty line figure is used in the following three crucial areas of programmatic eligibility 

and priority for funding:

i. To determine the maximum grant level the applicant qualifies for. Per 7 CFR

1780.10(c)(1), in order to qualify for the agency’s maximum grant of 75 percent, the median 

household income of the service area has to be below the higher of the poverty line or 80 percent

of the state nonmetropolitan median income and the project is necessary to alleviate a health or 

sanitary problem;

ii. To determine the interest rate the applicant qualifies for. Per 7 CFR 1780.13(b)(2), to 

qualify for the agency’s lowest poverty interest rate the median household income of the service 

area has to be below the higher of the poverty line, or 80 percent of the Statewide 

nonmetropolitan median household income; and

iii. The poverty line is used when ranking eligible applications for consideration for 

limited funds. Per 7 CFR 1780.17(c)(1) and (3), applicants receive median household priority 

points if the median household income of the population to be served by the proposed project is 

less than the poverty line if the poverty line is less than 80 percent of the statewide 

nonmetropolitan median household income.