About Lifeline and Application
Who Is Eligible for Lifeline?
If you live outside of California, please see the other states' guidelines.
You may qualify for Assurance Wireless Lifeline service if you are on certain public assistance programs, receive tribal benefits or meet household-income requirements. You may have to provide provide proof of program participation or income with your Assurance Wireless application.
Program-based eligibility
Qualifying public assistance programs include:
- Medicaid/Medi-Cal
- CalFresh, Food Stamps or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA)
- Veterans Pension or Survivors Benefit Programs
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
- National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
- Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC)
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS), Stanislaus County Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (StanWORKS), Welfare-to-Work (WTW) or Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN)
Tribal-household eligibility
You may qualify if your household is on federally recognized Tribal land and participating in any of the programs listed above, or those outlined below:
- Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) General Assistance
- Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Tribal TANF)
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reserves (FDPIR)
- Tribal Head Start Income Eligibility
Household-income eligibility
You may qualify if your household yearly income falls within the range indicated next to your household* size, which is 135% of Federal Poverty Guidelines or the guideline specific to your state for 2024.
| Household Size | Annual Income Limit |
|---|---|
| x1 | $23,400 |
| x2 | $31,700 |
| x3 | $40,000 |
| x4 | $48,400 |
| x5 | $56,800 |
| x6 | $65,200 |
| x7 | $73,600 |
| x8 | $82,000 |
| For each additional person, add: |
$8,400 |
*A household is defined as any individual or group of individuals who live together at the same address and share income and expenses. Household income includes all income received by everyone in your household, whether taxable or non-taxable, including, but not limited to, wages, salaries, interest, dividends, spousal support and child support, grants, gifts, allowances, stipends, public-assistance payments, social security and pensions, rental income, income from self-employment and cash payments from other sources and all employment-related, non-cash income.