- What is the maximum USDA loan amount?
- For the Section 502 Guaranteed Loan Program there is no maximum loan amount. USDA's Guaranteed Loan Program 101 training lists 'No maximum purchase price limits' and describes 100% financing based on appraised value; the practical ceiling is the appraised value plus the financed upfront guarantee fee, and what the household's repayment income supports under the 29% PITI ratio and 41% total-debt ratio guidelines. For the Section 502 Direct Loan, USDA sets each applicant's maximum loan amount from repayment ability and the area loan limit for the property's county.
- Does USDA have loan limits by county?
- Only for Section 502 Direct. USDA publishes area loan limits by county for the Direct loan and states that an applicant's maximum loan amount is based on repayment ability and the area loan limit for the county in which the property is located. The Section 502 Guaranteed Loan Program — the one made through an approved lender — publishes no county loan limits at all.
- What are USDA county loan limits?
- They are the Section 502 Direct area loan limits: a per-county figure USDA publishes in its Area Loan Limits document for Single Family Housing Direct, selectable by state and then county. They are one input to a Direct applicant's maximum loan amount, alongside repayment ability. They are not income limits, and they are not a cap on a USDA Guaranteed loan.
- Are USDA income limits the same as USDA loan limits?
- No. The income limit caps who is eligible — adjusted annual household income must be at or below the HB-1-3555 Appendix 5 moderate-income row for the property's county and household size ($122,800 for one-to-four-person households and $162,100 for five-to-eight-person households in most counties under the FY 2026 table effective July 13, 2026). The loan limit, where it exists, caps how much can be borrowed. A household can pass the income screen and still be sized to a small loan, or the reverse.
- Does USDA publish a county loan-limit schedule like FHA's?
- Not for the Guaranteed loan. A buyer used to looking up a county maximum will find nothing to look up, because USDA's Guaranteed program states there are no maximum purchase price limits and sizes the loan against the appraised value and repayment ability instead. The only USDA document that reads like a county schedule is the Area Loan Limits table for Section 502 Direct.
- How do I find my county's USDA area loan limit?
- Open USDA's Area Loan Limits document for Single Family Housing Direct, select your state, and read the county row. Confirm first that you are looking at the Direct loan rather than the Guaranteed loan, and remember that the area loan limit does not decide rural-area eligibility or the household income test — both of those are separate screens that still have to pass.
- Does the maximum USDA loan amount depend on the property's location?
- For the Guaranteed loan, location decides eligibility rather than loan size: the address must sit outside USDA Rural Development's ineligible-area polygons, and the property's county and household size decide which income-limit row applies. The loan amount itself comes from the appraised value and repayment ability. For the Direct loan, location does affect the maximum, through the county area loan limit.