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HUD Fair Market Rent · FY 2027 · Effective Oct 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027

Fair Market Rent in Dane County, Wisconsin (FY 2027)

$1,565 a month. That's HUD's FY 2027 Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom in Dane County, and it's the baseline every voucher in Dane is measured against.

Two-bedroom FMR

$1,565

-7.6% from FY 2026

Payment standard

$1,409–$1,722

90% to 110% of the FMR, two-bedroom

Income to afford

$62,600

a year, with rent at 30% of income

Rank in Wisconsin

3rd of 72

by two-bedroom FMR, highest first

FY 2027 Fair Market Rents

Payment standard is the 90% to 110% band a housing authority can set. Income needed puts rent at 30% of gross income, and the hourly wage assumes a 40-hour week.

BedroomsFMRPayment standardIncome neededHourly wagevs FY 2026
Studio$1,196$1,076–$1,316$47,840$23.00/hr-5.7%
1 bedroom$1,375$1,238–$1,513$55,000$26.44/hr-7.2%
2 bedroom$1,565$1,409–$1,722$62,600$30.10/hr-7.6%
3 bedroom$2,047$1,842–$2,252$81,880$39.37/hr-8.5%
4 bedroom$2,264$2,038–$2,490$90,560$43.54/hr-9.8%
Five to eight bedrooms (PropMetrics estimates)

HUD stops at four bedrooms. These add 15% of the four-bedroom rent per extra bedroom. It's our estimate, not a HUD number.

BedroomsEstimated FMRPayment standard
5 bedroom Estimate$2,604$2,344–$2,864
6 bedroom Estimate$2,943$2,649–$3,237
7 bedroom Estimate$3,283$2,955–$3,611
8 bedroom Estimate$3,622$3,260–$3,984

Source: HUD Office of Policy Development and Research, FY 2027 Fair Market Rents. Rents include utilities. huduser.gov

Market check

HUD's number is one input. What does a two-bedroom in Dane actually rent for?

Search any address in Dane for a rent estimate built from nearby comps, with the HUD figure right next to it.

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What a voucher pays here

The voucher doesn't pay the FMR itself. It pays the payment standard. Housing authorities set it anywhere from 90% to 110% of FMR, which puts a two-bedroom standard in Dane somewhere between $1,409 and $1,722. The tenant pays roughly 30% of their income, the voucher covers the rest up to the standard, and the PHA won't approve a rent above what comparable unassisted units get.

$1,565 a month is affordable, by HUD's 30% rule, on an income of roughly $62,600 a year. Put another way, $30 an hour full time.

Worked example for a two-bedroom renting at the payment standard. The tenant pays 30% of monthly income and the voucher covers the rest.

Monthly household incomeTenant pays (30%)Voucher pays at 90%$1,409Voucher pays at 100%$1,565Voucher pays at 110%$1,722
$2,500$750$659$815$972
$4,000$1,200$209$365$522
Run your own numbers in the Section 8 rent calculator

Rate history

The two-bedroom rate went down 8% from FY 2026 ($1,694) to FY 2027 ($1,565). Since FY 2020 it's up 32% in total, about 4.0% a year. The Wisconsin median moved up 3% over the same year.

Fiscal yearStudio1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR2BR change
FY 2020$861$1,015$1,186$1,635$1,972—
FY 2021$889$1,039$1,211$1,641$1,965+2.1%
FY 2022$929$1,076$1,254$1,676$1,948+3.6%
FY 2023$1,007$1,183$1,378$1,810$2,041+9.9%
FY 2024$1,004$1,182$1,372$1,808$1,986-0.4%
FY 2025$1,080$1,282$1,472$1,935$2,161+7.3%
FY 2026$1,268$1,482$1,694$2,236$2,509+15.1%
FY 2027In effect$1,196$1,375$1,565$2,047$2,264-7.6%

Get FY 2028 Dane County rates the day HUD publishes them

HUD updates Fair Market Rents every fall. One email a year, no newsletter.

About this rate

Fair Market Rent is HUD's estimate of what a modest, decent unit rents for in an area, utilities included. It's set once a year and runs October to September. For FY 2027 that's October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. In Dane, that runs from $1,196 for a studio up to $2,264 for four bedrooms, all five rates in the table above.

Dane is its own HUD metro area (Madison, WI), so the rate here is set from rents inside the county rather than a wider region.

Among Wisconsin's 72 counties, Dane ranks 3rd for two-bedroom FMR. That's about 50% above the state median of $1,041 and about 47% above the national median county at $1,063. About 572,674 people live here, 2nd in the state.

Rates by ZIP code

Zoom in and the picture changes. HUD's Small Area FMRs put a two-bedroom at $1,530 in 53508 (Belleville) and $1,900 in 53715 (Madison), with the 40 ZIP codes in between. Housing authorities in HUD-designated metros use those ZIP rates instead of the county rate. Everywhere else the ZIP numbers show where rents actually sit, and the county rate stays the official standard.

ZIPCity2BR ratevs county
53508Belleville$1,530-2.2%
53515Black Earth$1,530-2.2%
53517Blue Mounds$1,530-2.2%
53523Cambridge$1,530-2.2%
53527Cottage Grove$1,760+12.5%
53528Cross Plains$1,530-2.2%
53529Dane$1,530-2.2%
53531Deerfield$1,530-2.2%
53532Deforest$1,590+1.6%
53558Mc Farland$1,730+10.5%
53559Marshall$1,530-2.2%
53560Mazomanie$1,530-2.2%
53562Middleton$1,630+4.2%
53571Morrisonville$1,530-2.2%
53572Mount Horeb$1,530-2.2%
53575Oregon$1,530-2.2%
53589Stoughton$1,530-2.2%
53590Sun Prairie$1,620+3.5%
53593Verona$1,790+14.4%
53596Sun Prairie$1,565County rate—
53597Waunakee$1,560-0.3%
53598Windsor$1,760+12.5%
53701Madison$1,570+0.3%
53702Madison$1,565County rate—
53703Madison$1,870+19.5%
53704Madison$1,530-2.2%
53705Madison$1,590+1.6%
53706Madison$1,750+11.8%
53707Madison$1,570+0.3%
53708Madison$1,570+0.3%
53711Madison$1,530-2.2%
53713Madison$1,530-2.2%
53714Madison$1,530-2.2%
53715Madison$1,900+21.4%
53716Madison$1,530-2.2%
53717Madison$1,670+6.7%
53718Madison$1,850+18.2%
53719Madison$1,810+15.7%
53725Madison$1,570+0.3%
53726Madison$1,700+8.6%

Nearby counties

Two-bedroom FMR, with how each compares to Dane.

Questions people ask

$1,565 a month for FY 2027, which runs October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. The other rates are $1,196 for a studio, $1,375 for one bedroom, $2,047 for three and $2,264 for four.

What does a rental in Dane actually go for?

HUD's number is one input. Search any address in Dane for a rent estimate built from nearby comps. Free to start, no card.

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