ACA Subsidy Calculator
Household & benchmark plan
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- United States — insurance is regulated state by state, so the rules behind a premium are your state's, not a federal schedule
- Rules and time period
- Premiums, limits and deductibles are the figures you enter. Health plan cost-sharing caps, Medicare amounts and state filings all reset annually.
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Rates, required coverages and available discounts differ by where you live. Your premium is set by an insurer's own underwriting — driving record, claims history, credit-based insurance score where permitted, the property itself — and only a quote is binding. What a policy pays depends on its exclusions and limits, not on this estimate.
- Source links checked
- Sep 19, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
Primary sources
How to use
- 01
Enter the household income you expect for the whole year. The Marketplace works from modified adjusted gross income, which is your adjusted gross income with tax-exempt interest, untaxed Social Security and excluded foreign income added back. Use the figure you expect to end the year on rather than what you have earned so far, because the credit is reconciled against your actual income on next year's tax return.
- 02
Set the number of people in the household. This is your tax household — you, your spouse if you file jointly, and everyone you claim as a dependent — not the people sleeping under your roof. A dependent away at college counts; a roommate does not. Household size moves the answer more than almost anything else, because it moves the poverty line every threshold is measured against.
- 03
Enter the benchmark Silver plan premium your Marketplace quotes you each month. The benchmark is the second-lowest-cost Silver plan available to your household, and it is the only plan the credit is calculated from. HealthCare.gov or your state exchange shows it once you enter your ZIP code and ages; it is not necessarily a plan you would choose.
- 04
Open Advanced options if the plan you actually want is not the benchmark, and enter its premium. The credit is fixed to the benchmark, so a more expensive plan costs you the whole difference and a cheaper one leaves you paying less than your expected contribution. Leaving the field blank tells the page to price the benchmark plan itself.
- 05
Read your percentage of the poverty line first, then the credit, then the net premium. The percentage is what every rule in this system keys off: 100% is the floor below which no credit exists, 150% and 250% are where cost-sharing reductions step down, and 400% is the cliff where the credit ends outright for 2026.
Formula
The poverty line for your household is the one-person guideline plus the per-person amount times (household size − 1), taken from the 2025 guidelines because a 2026 plan year uses them. Your percentage of the poverty line is household income ÷ that line × 100. The applicable percentage — the share of income you are expected to contribute — is read off the 2026 table in IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25: a flat 2.10% below 133% of the poverty line, interpolating up through 3.14%, 4.19%, 6.60% and 8.44% to 9.96% at 300%, flat at 9.96% from 300% to 400%, and undefined above 400% because the credit is zero there rather than tapered. Your expected contribution for the year = household income × applicable percentage. The credit = max(0, benchmark premium × 12 − expected contribution), which is why a benchmark premium below your expected contribution produces no credit at all. Your net premium = max(0, the premium of the plan you chose × 12 − the credit), so the credit is fixed to the benchmark and any difference between your plan and the benchmark is paid or saved in full.
Example
A household of 2 expects $60,000 for 2026 and the Marketplace quotes a benchmark Silver premium of $620 a month. The poverty line for two people on the 2025 guidelines is $21,150, so the income is 284% of it. The applicable percentage at that point on the table is 9.46%, making the expected contribution $5,678 for the year, or $473 a month. The benchmark plan costs $7,440 a year, so the credit is the $1,762 difference — $147 a month — and the net premium is $473 a month, $5,678 for the year. Now move the same household up to $90,000. It lands at 426% of the poverty line, past the $84,600 cliff, and the credit falls to $0: the whole $7,440 is payable. Move it down to $30,000 instead and it sits at 142%, the credit rises to $528 a month or $6,334 a year, the net premium drops to $92 a month, and a Silver plan at that income also carries cost-sharing reductions that cut the deductible. Finally, keep the $60,000 but choose a $720 plan rather than the $620 benchmark: the credit does not move, and the net premium becomes $573 a month.
Definitions
- Household income for the year
- Modified adjusted gross income for the whole tax year — adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest, untaxed Social Security and excluded foreign income. The estimate you give the Marketplace is reconciled against the real figure on your return.
- People in the household
- Your tax household: you, your spouse if filing jointly, and everyone you claim as a dependent. It sets the poverty line that every percentage on this page is measured against.
- Benchmark Silver plan premium
- The monthly premium of the second-lowest-cost Silver plan offered to your household. The credit is calculated from this plan whether or not you buy it.
- Premium of the plan you want
- An advanced input for the plan you would actually enroll in. Left blank the page prices the benchmark. Because the credit is fixed to the benchmark, every dollar of difference is yours.
- Poverty guideline, 1 person
- The HHS guideline for a single-person household in the 48 contiguous states and DC. A 2026 plan year uses the 2025 figure of $15,650. Alaska and Hawaii run higher guidelines this page does not use.
- Added per extra person
- The amount the poverty line rises for each household member beyond the first — $5,500 on the 2025 guidelines a 2026 plan year uses.
- Applicable percentage
- The share of income the law expects you to put toward the benchmark plan, from the 2026 table in Rev. Proc. 2025-25. It rises with income and stops existing above 400% of the poverty line.
- Premium tax credit
- The benchmark premium minus your expected contribution, floored at zero. Normally advanced to the insurer each month and settled on Form 8962 with your return.
- The 400% cliff
- The income at which eligibility ends outright for 2026, equal to four times your household's poverty line. The enhanced credits that removed this cliff expired after 2025.
- Cost-sharing reductions
- A separate Silver-only benefit for households between 100% and 250% of the poverty line that lowers the deductible, copays and out-of-pocket maximum rather than the premium.
Frequently asked questions
How much is my ACA subsidy for 2026?
It is the benchmark Silver premium minus what the law expects you to contribute, and nothing else. On this page's defaults — a household of 2 with $60,000 of income and a benchmark premium of $620 a month — the poverty line is $21,150, the income is 284% of it, the expected contribution is 9.46% of income, and the credit works out at $147 a month or $1,762 a year. That leaves $473 a month to pay, or $5,678 for the year.
Is the 400% subsidy cliff back in 2026?
Yes. The enhanced credits from the American Rescue Plan and the 2022 reconciliation act expired on 1 January 2026, and no extension has been enacted, so eligibility is once again capped at 400% of the poverty line. For the household of 2 in the example that line sits at $84,600. It is a cliff and not a taper: run the same household at $90,000 and the page reports 426% of the poverty line, a credit of $0, and the full $7,440 a year to pay. A few thousand dollars of extra income can cost more than it earns.
Can I get no credit even below 400% of the poverty line?
You can, and it surprises people. The credit is the gap between the benchmark premium and your expected contribution, so when your expected contribution is already larger than the benchmark premium the gap is zero. Run the same household at $84,000 — 397% of the poverty line, still under the cliff — and the expected contribution is 9.96% of income, which is $697 a month against a benchmark premium of $620. There is nothing left to subsidize, so the credit is $0 and the net premium is the full $7,440. A cheap benchmark market can switch the credit off well before the cliff does.
Why does a 2026 plan year use the 2025 poverty guidelines?
Because open enrollment for a plan year opens before the new guidelines exist. HHS publishes the guidelines each January, long after people have had to choose a plan for the year that is already under way, so the rules tie the plan year to the guidelines in force when enrollment opened. A 2026 plan year therefore runs on the 2025 figures — $15,650 for one person plus $5,500 for each additional person in the 48 contiguous states — which is why the poverty line this page uses for a household of 2 is $21,150 rather than a number from the 2026 table.
What are cost-sharing reductions and do I get them?
They are a separate benefit from the premium tax credit. Instead of cutting the premium, they cut the deductible, the copays and the out-of-pocket maximum, and they attach only to Silver plans for households between 100% and 250% of the poverty line. Run the household of 2 at $30,000 and the page reports 142% of the poverty line, a credit of $528 a month and a net premium of $92 a month — and flags that at that income a Silver plan also carries cost-sharing reductions. At that level a Bronze plan can look cheaper on premium and cost far more the first time anyone is ill, because the reductions do not follow you to Bronze.
What happens if I pick a plan that costs more than the benchmark?
You pay the whole difference. The credit is a fixed dollar amount derived from the benchmark plan, so it does not grow when you buy up. Take the default household and set the plan you want to $720 a month against the $620 benchmark: the credit stays at $147 a month, the expected contribution stays at $473, and the net premium rises to $573 a month, or $6,878 for the year. The $100 monthly difference is yours in full. The same logic works in your favor on a cheaper plan.