Fair Housing Protected Classes by State 2026

Federal Baseline, Same in All 50 States + DC

The federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. § 3604), as amended by the 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act, prohibits housing discrimination based on seven federal protected classes: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability. In 2021 HUD issued a directive interpreting the FHA's "sex" prohibition to include sexual orientation and gender identity nationwide following Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020), meaning these are now enforceable through HUD complaint in every U.S. jurisdiction even where state law is silent.

Source of Income, The Class Most Landlords Don't Know About

Source-of-income (SOI) discrimination is not a federal protected class. There is no federal law requiring landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV / "Section 8"). Whether a landlord can refuse a voucher comes down entirely to state and local law:

• Statewide SOI protection (~17 jurisdictions): CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, IL, MA, MD, ME, NJ, NY, OR, RI, VA, VT, WA, WI, landlords statewide must consider voucher applicants.
• Local-only SOI protection: FL, KY, MI, MO, NC, OH, PA, many large cities and counties have local SOI ordinances even where the state has none.
• State preemption (no protection allowed): Texas (SB 267, 2015) and Indiana (HB 1076, 2017) expressly bar local governments from creating SOI ordinances.
• No SOI protection: AL, AK, AR, AZ, GA, HI*, IA, ID, KS, LA, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OK, SC, SD, TN, UT, WV, WY (HI bars by case law in some contexts but no broad SOI statute).

State-by-State, Protected Classes Beyond Federal Baseline

Sorted by source-of-income status (statewide first, then local, then no SOI law, then preempted) and by total additions within each tier. Click any state for full statute citation, every added class, and FAQ.

Why This Matters for Landlords

Federal civil penalties under the Fair Housing Act run up to $25,597 for a first-offense violation (24 C.F.R. § 180.671, HUD inflation-adjusted) plus actual damages, attorney's fees, and equitable relief. State fair-housing agencies often pursue parallel actions with their own penalties. The single most common compliance failure on small-landlord properties is screening that filters out applicants based on a class their state protects but federal law does not, most often source of income, but also marital status, military status, and gender identity.

Sources & Methodology

• Federal: 42 U.S.C. § 3604 (Fair Housing Act); 24 C.F.R. Part 100; 24 C.F.R. § 180.671 (civil penalties); HUD Memo Feb 11, 2021 (sex incl. SO/GI under Bostock).
• State fair-housing statutes: Cited per row to the official state code where the state's fair-housing law is located.
• Source-of-income classification: Verified against state statute. "Statewide" requires an enforceable state-level provision; "local" means no statewide law but at least one major city/county ordinance; "preempted" means state law expressly bars local SOI ordinances.
• Recent amendments: Cited to bill number where the most recent statutory change is significant; states that mirror federal baseline are noted as such, never synthesized.

Data compiled from federal regulations and state fair-housing statutes cited per row. Last updated August 15, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice. Fair-housing determinations are highly fact-specific; consult a licensed attorney in your state before making a screening, denial, or eviction decision.