The federal benchmark rent for a two-bedroom home in Macon County rose $82 a month this fiscal year, to $1,018, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD's Fair Market Rents for fiscal year 2027 took effect Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal year. The two-bedroom figure is up 8.8% from $936 in fiscal year 2026.
Every unit size went up. The largest percentage jump was for efficiency apartments, which rose $105, or 16.3%, to $750 from $645. The one-bedroom figure rose $65, or 9.1%, to $778 from $713.
The four-bedroom figure climbed $170, or 12.8%, to $1,494 from $1,324. The three-bedroom figure barely moved, rising $11, or 0.9%, to $1,223 from $1,212.
Here are Macon County's Fair Market Rents for fiscal 2027, with fiscal 2026 in parentheses, according to HUD:
- Efficiency: $750 ($645)
- One bedroom: $778 ($713)
- Two bedrooms: $1,018 ($936)
- Three bedrooms: $1,223 ($1,212)
- Four bedrooms: $1,494 ($1,324)
Fair Market Rents are HUD's estimates of gross rent, meaning rent plus utilities, for a standard-quality rental unit in an area. HUD uses them as benchmarks for its Housing Choice Voucher program, often called Section 8, and other federal housing programs.
The figures are not the same as the amount a voucher actually pays in Macon County. Those amounts, called payment standards, are set by the local public housing agency that runs the voucher program, using HUD's Fair Market Rent as the benchmark. HUD's release does not list payment standards for Macon County.
In Macon County, the voucher program is administered by the North East Community Action Corp., based in Bowling Green, according to the agency's website. NECAC lists Macon among the northeast Missouri counties its housing assistance program serves, along with neighboring Monroe, Randolph, and Shelby counties.
Under the program, a family finds its own rental unit, the housing agency pays a subsidy directly to the landlord, and the family pays the difference between that subsidy and the rent, according to NECAC. The unit must meet minimum health and safety standards set by the agency.
HUD classifies Macon County as a non-metropolitan county, so the county gets its own Fair Market Rent rather than sharing one with a metro area.
To set the number, HUD starts with the Census Bureau's American Community Survey rent estimates for the county, according to the agency's published calculation for Macon County. It then adjusts that base for what recent movers pay in rural Missouri, for rent and utility inflation, and for expected rent growth through the end of the fiscal year. The figures for other unit sizes are set as ratios of the two-bedroom rent.
HUD's full calculation for the county is posted on the agency's HUD User website under the fiscal 2027 Fair Market Rent dataset.