- Guides and Training Manuals
Date Published: March 2023
This Guidebook provides information on how to conduct a local income survey that meets HUD's guidelines for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Most communities in the United States are eligible to receive CDBG funds: larger cities and urban counties are funded directly by HUD, while smaller cities and towns receive funding through their respective states.
CDBG funds have many eligible uses, and all activities must meet a national objective. Communities undertake local income surveys to determine activity eligibility; the population of the service area where they propose to undertake CDBG-funded activities must be at least 51 percent low- to moderate-income (LMI).
This Guidebook includes detailed instructions on how to undertake an income survey, focusing on online and in-person data collection, and takes the reader step-by-step through the entire survey process:
Please note that this Guidebook was developed before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local guidance before conducting in-person surveys.
Additional resources and information on how to conduct a local income survey that meets HUD's guidelines can be found on the CDBG Income Survey Toolkit page.