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Section 8 Housing in Pennsylvania — Which PHA to Apply To and What to Expect on the Wait List

Pennsylvania has over 80 housing authorities spread across 67 counties, and in several of the larger metros the city and the county each run their own separate agency. This page is a guide to help you find your local housing authority and help you understand the process.

The state structure is complicated. Pittsburgh has its own housing authority. So does Allegheny County. Lancaster, Reading, and Harrisburg each have a city authority and a county authority with separate addresses, separate wait lists, and separate phone numbers. If you live in a suburb or smaller city near one of those metros, you may need to check two agencies — and apply to both.

The program mechanics are standard: once you receive a voucher, you pay roughly 30% of your adjusted monthly income toward rent and the housing authority pays the rest directly to your landlord. But what happens between applying and actually getting a voucher — how long you wait, whether wait lists are even open, and whether a landlord will accept your voucher — depends a lot on which part of Pennsylvania you're in. This is not an emergency program, and if you need immediate help with rent see the page on emergency rental assistance in Pennsylvania.

• NOTE: You can apply to more than one wait list and housing authority at a time. There is no rule against being on multiple Pennsylvania lists simultaneously. With most major PA wait lists closed or running years long, applying to several counties at once is a very realistic strategy.

Whether a landlord has to take your voucher depends on where you live

Pennsylvania has no statewide law requiring landlords to accept Section 8 vouchers. In most of the state — Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown, Reading, and everywhere in between — a landlord can turn you down just because you have a voucher, and that's legal.

Philadelphia is different. The city's Fair Practices Ordinance makes it illegal for landlords to refuse a tenant because of a Section 8 voucher. Violations can be reported to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. The protection is real, though advocates note that landlord refusals remain common in practice even where they're illegal.

Outside Philadelphia, plan for a lot of "we don't take Section 8." Ask your housing authority for their landlord list — a roster of property owners who have rented to voucher holders before. Those are your best starting calls. Also watch for the income requirement trap: some landlords say they accept vouchers but then require you to earn two or three times the full rent in monthly income. That's legal everywhere in Pennsylvania and rules out most voucher holders. If you run into it, move on.

Two types of vouchers, two different paths

A standard Housing Choice Voucher travels with you to any landlord who will accept it. A project-based voucher is tied to a specific building — you apply to that building's wait list rather than searching the open market on your own.

In Pennsylvania this distinction matters because the main HCV lists at the largest PHAs have been closed for years. HACP Pittsburgh periodically runs short application windows — often just four or five days — for specific project-based properties. Recent openings have included Doughboy Square, Elmer Williams Square, Manchester Commons, Middle Hill Homes, Skyline Terrace, and The Reed. Philadelphia Housing Authority does the same with its own portfolio of project-based properties on rolling schedules.

These openings are announced on each authority's website with little advance notice. If you're waiting on the main list, checking hacp.org and pha.phila.gov regularly for project-based announcements is worth the habit.

One note: if you take a project-based unit and live there twelve months, you can typically request a tenant-based voucher from the PHA — giving you the flexibility to move later.

Have a question or want to share what you know?

Pennsylvania comes up in the site's Section 8 forum — people posting about specific PHAs, how long their county's list has actually been, what happened with their port request, which project-based properties opened recently. It's moderated and real. See the Pennsylvania section 8 thread, which is free to read or post on.

Major housing authorities in Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) — City of Philadelphia. 2013 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19121. (215) 684-4174. https://www.pha.phila.gov/. The fourth-largest housing authority in the country, housing nearly 80,000 people. PHA administers roughly 19,000 Housing Choice Vouchers for Philadelphia. The main HCV wait list has been effectively closed for years and opens only occasionally. Project-based voucher lists at specific properties open on separate schedules — check the PHA website for current openings. Veterans, people with disabilities, and those referred by the city's homeless system may qualify for preferences that move them up the list.

Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) — City of Pittsburgh. 412 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. (412) 456-5012. https://hacp.org/. Houses over 18,000 Pittsburghers through public housing communities and roughly 9,000 Housing Choice Vouchers. The main tenant-based HCV wait list has been closed; HACP opens project-based voucher lists for specific properties periodically through a lottery on their website. Check hacp.org for current openings. HACP covers Pittsburgh city limits only — if you're in the suburbs or a smaller Allegheny County community, the county authority below is your contact.

Allegheny County Housing Authority — Allegheny County outside Pittsburgh. 301 Chartiers Avenue, McKees Rocks, PA 15136. (412) 355-8940. Covers the suburbs and communities throughout Allegheny County outside the city. Separate agency from HACP with its own wait list.

Housing Authority of the City of Lancaster and Lancaster County Housing Authority — Lancaster metro. City authority: 325 Church Street, Lancaster, PA 17602, (717) 397-2835. County authority: 28 Penn Square, Lancaster, PA 17603, (717) 394-0793. Two separate agencies with separate wait lists. Apply to both if you're in the Lancaster area — your address determines which has jurisdiction, but applying to both costs nothing extra.

Harrisburg Housing Authority and Housing Authority of the County of Dauphin — Capital region. City: 351 Chestnut Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, (717) 232-6781. County: 501 Mohn Street, Steelton, PA 17113, (717) 939-9301. Separate agencies covering the city and surrounding county respectively.

Allentown Housing Authority and Lehigh County Housing Authority — Lehigh Valley. City: 1339 W Allen Street, Allentown, PA 18102, (610) 439-8678. County: 635 Broad Street, Emmaus, PA 18049, (610) 965-4514.

Northampton County (15 Wood Street, Nazareth, (610) 965-4514) is a third separate authority serving the eastern valley.

Reading Housing Authority and Housing Authority of the County of Berks — Reading area. City: 400 Hancock Boulevard, Reading, PA 19611, (610) 775-4813. County: 1803 Butter Lane, Reading, PA 19606, (610) 370-0822. Same metro, separate wait lists.

Scranton Housing Authority and Lackawanna County Housing Authority — Northeast Pennsylvania. City: 400 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18510, (570) 348-4401. County: 2019 W Pine Street, Dunmore, PA 18512, (570) 342-7629.

Housing Authority of the County of Erie and Housing Authority of the City of Erie — Erie. County: 120 S Center Street, Corry, PA 16407, (814) 665-5161. City: 606 Holland Street, Erie, PA 16501, (814) 452-2425.

Westmoreland County Housing Authority — Greensburg. 167 South Greengate Road, Greensburg, PA 15601. (724) 832-7258. Serves Westmoreland County and the greater Greensburg area. Website: https://www.wchaonline.com/

Housing Authority of the County of Luzerne and Wilkes-Barre Housing Authority — Wyoming Valley. County: 250 First Avenue, Kingston, PA 18704, (570) 287-9661. City: 50 Lincoln Plaza, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702, (570) 825-6657

Full Pennsylvania PHA directory

The complete list of all Pennsylvania housing authorities follows. Addresses and phone numbers are from the most current HUD PHA Contact Report. Call ahead before visiting any office to confirm hours and current wait list status.

• NOTE: What the Type column means: "Combined" means the housing authority runs both Section 8 vouchers and public housing units. "Section 8 only" means vouchers only — no public housing. "Low-Rent" means public housing units only — they do not issue Section 8 vouchers.

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