City of Methuen Master Plan

Methuen Master Plan 2007
Low-income eligibility is calculated as a percentage of the median family income (MFI) for a larger
region and varies by the size of a household. HUD uses the MFI of the Lawrence PMSA as the region
for determining income eligibility for households in the City of Methuen. These income limits are
exhibited in Table 16.
Table 16: Income Eligibility Thresholds For Affordable Housing
Area Median
Family Income [1]
$75,700
Household Size
Extremely
Low (30%)
Income Thresholds
Very Low
(50%)
Low
(80%)
1-person $15,900 $26,500 $40,600
2-person $18,200 $30,300 $46,400
3-person $20,450 $34,100 $52,200
4-person $22,750 $37,900 $58,000
5-person $24,550 $40,900 $62,650
6-person $26,400 $43,950 $67,300
7-person $28,200 $46,950 $71,900
8-person $30,000 $50,000 $76,550
[1] for the Lawrence MA-NH PMSA
Source: US Dept of HUD
As shown in Table 16, three classifications for low-income households are used, based on the area MFI
($75,700) for 2005, and include extremely low (0-30%); very low (31% to 50%); and low (51% to 80%).
Income limits are also based on family size.
HOUSEHOLDS SIZE, TENURES & AGE CHARACTERISTICS
The distribution of households by size in Methuen, adjusted for 2005, is presented in Table 17. Also
exhibited are the percentages of different household sizes that were owners or elderly. As shown, 25.3%
of households in Methuen were single-person households, another 30.6% contained two persons and
another 17.3% were three-person households. The remaining 26.8% of Methuen households had four
persons or more. About 53.2% of the one-person households were owners and approximately 13% of
one-person households were elderly. Between 75% and 85% of the 2-person or larger households were
owners, and 9% were elderly with most of these elderly households having only 2-persons.
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