Whether you qualify for Medicaid usually comes down to one number: how your household income compares to the federal poverty level (FPL), which the Department of Health and Human Services updates every year. For 2026, the FPL in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. is $15,960 a year for a single person and $33,000 for a family of four. Add $5,680 a year for each additional household member beyond eight. * Medicaid itself doesn't use the raw FPL number, though — it uses a percentage of it, and that percentage depends entirely on your state and which Medicaid category you're applying under. In states that adopted the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, most adults under 65 qualify with income up to 138% of the FPL — about $22,025 a year for one person or $45,540 for a family of four in 2026. * States that didn't expand Medicaid generally set much lower income limits for non-disabled adults, sometimes only covering parents with very low income and excluding childless adults almost entirely, regardless of how poor they are. This is the single biggest reason Medicaid eligibility varies so dramatically by state. * Separate, higher income limits apply for long-term care Medicaid, pregnant women, and children, who often qualify at 200% of the FPL or more depending on the state. Alaska and Hawaii use their own higher poverty guidelines because of their higher cost of living, so the standard 48-state numbers above don't apply there. Check your own state Medicaid agency for the exact threshold that applies to your situation.