The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, commonly referred to as HEAP, is designed to assist income eligible households with their heating or utility costs. In Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2025, almost 1.7 million beneficiaries were authorized in New York State, totaling $375.9 million in benefits with an additional $32.0 million in funding for administration.
Eligibility and benefits are based on income, household size, the primary heating source of the household and the presence of a household member who is under six years old, over 60 years old or permanently disabled. The maximum gross monthly income limit for a one-person household is $3,473; the limit increases with household size up to a maximum of $10,221 for a household of 13 people. An add-on benefit is available for households below 130 percent of the federal poverty level or if at least one adult household member is a recipient of certain other public benefits. An additional benefit of $35 is available to eligible households with a member that is under the age of six, or is 60 or older, or permanently disabled.
Emergency HEAP benefits cover households that meet eligibility requirements and cannot afford to replace depleted fuel supplies or are subject to utility termination of service due to financial hardship. In FFY 2025, these benefits were authorized for 100,989 beneficiaries for an average benefit of $595.
Additionally, HEAP offers benefits for equipment repair or replacement and for maintenance, energy efficiency services, carbon monoxide detectors, chimney cleaning, as well as cooling assistance benefits. These repairs tend to cost more and are more likely to occur in counties where HEAP beneficiaries are responsible for and/or own the heating equipment, so counties with a high number of renters see fewer of these benefits.
In FFY 2025, New York City had the largest number of HEAP recipients (952,170), receiving $63.7 million in benefits. Outside of New York City, Erie (100,707), Suffolk (60,884), Monroe (59,390), Onondaga (35,524) and Westchester (30,278) Counties had the greatest number of HEAP recipients with benefits totaling $36.3 million, $20.1 million, $18.3 million, $12.8 million, and $3.1 million in benefits, respectively.
Figure 1 – HEAP Beneficiaries, FFYs 2015 – 2025
- Figure 1 Data Table
Year (FFY) Beneficiaries 2015 1,644,950 2016 1,512,359 2017 1,484,365 2018 1,605,143 2019 1,625,687 2020 1,711,304 2021 1,729,491 2022 1,751,264 2023 1,730,166 2024 1,813,969 2025 1,668,540
Source: OTDA, Monthly Caseload Statistics at https://otda.ny.gov/resources/caseload/
Figure 2 – HEAP Benefits and Administrative Allocations, FFYs 2015 – 2025
- Figure 2 Data Table
Year Benefits Administrative Allocations 2015 $317,172,488 $24,663,703 2016 $274,217,709 $21,062,457 2017 $270,660,900 $20,792,601 2018 $313,593,197 $23,966,970 2019 $303,084,212 $29,778,894 2020 $308,468,703 $32,489,314 2021 $328,545,053 $72,711,180 2022 $586,139,855 $30,231,050 2023 $438,662,445 $44,713,482 2024 $398,224,623 $31,664,854 2025 $375,852,637 $31,971,413
Source: OTDA, Monthly Caseload Statistics at https://otda.ny.gov/resources/caseload/
Figure 3 – HEAP Households and Benefits, FFY 2025
Source: OTDA
- Figure 3 Data Table
District
Beneficiaries
Benefits
Albany 17,101 $6,021,420 Allegany 4,841 $2,806,945 Broome 18,332 $9,144,317 Cattaraugus 8,714 $4,716,631 Cayuga 6,232 $3,344,045 Chautauqua 14,317 $6,405,920 Chemung 9,202 $3,740,090 Chenango 5,291 $3,735,169 Clinton 10,055 $7,274,458 Columbia 4,242 $2,717,063 Cortland 4,202 $2,232,775 Delaware 5,106 $3,470,739 Dutchess 11,595 $5,316,634 Erie 100,707 $36,346,394 Essex 3,030 $2,268,950 Franklin 7,229 $5,401,840 Fulton 6,361 $3,924,457 Genesee 3,466 $1,559,420 Greene 4,549 $3,150,105 Hamilton 480 $396,540 Herkimer 7,624 $4,604,680 Jefferson 10,326 $5,703,963 Lewis 2,747 $2,008,504 Livingston 4,344 $2,479,615 Madison 5,479 $3,267,174 Monroe 59,390 $18,300,801 Montgomery 6,049 $3,394,848 Nassau 17,283 $4,838,096 Niagara 17,325 $6,522,047 Oneida 24,453 $12,175,972 Onondaga 35,524 $12,844,397 Ontario 7,083 $3,150,104 Orange 18,796 $8,317,021 Orleans 3,958 $2,332,625 Oswego 10,117 $6,149,812 Otsego 6,180 $4,477,025 Putnam 2,191 $1,034,873 Rensselaer 9,756 $4,854,032 Rockland 18,996 $5,274,527 St. Lawrence 12,473 $7,900,606 Saratoga 13,008 $7,462,105 Schenectady 12,233 $4,560,190 Schoharie 3,696 $2,661,156 Schuyler 1,994 $1,442,873 Seneca 2,815 $1,547,300 Steuben 11,002 $5,983,285 Suffolk 60,884 $20,093,178 Sullivan 8,794 $5,689,331 Tioga 5,110 $3,492,917 Tompkins 5,303 $2,143,870 Ulster 14,074 $7,423,439 Warren 5,208 $3,055,869 Washington 5,917 $4,134,124 Wayne 6,614 $3,346,413 Westchester 30,278 $3,097,354 Wyoming 2,548 $1,352,249 Yates 1,746 $1,030,006 New York City 952,170 $63,732,345