Texas Down Payment Assistance for Oilfield and Energy Workers

Texas runs on the people who find, drill, refine, and ship its energy. If that’s your work, your paycheck may be bigger than most and shaped nothing like a nine-to-five: overtime that rises and falls with the rig count, a 14-and-14 hitch, a turnaround bonus, or a year of 1099s from lease work.

That’s usually the moment someone calls your income complicated. Complicated isn’t the same as unqualified. Texas’s main statewide down payment assistance programs don’t ask what industry you work in. They ask about your county’s income limit, your credit, and whether the home will be where you actually live, and many energy households may clear those bars.

This guide walks through which programs fit, the 2026 income limits in the counties where the work is, how lenders look at overtime, rotation, and contract pay, and what landmen and 1099 crews should line up before they apply. If you’re relocating for a job, our guide to refineries in Texas, the oil fields, and the towns near them maps the regions in detail.

Four reasons energy workers skip down payment help, and what’s actually true

Most people in the oil patch who never apply for assistance rule themselves out with one of these four. Each one deserves a second look.

“I make too much.” Maybe not anymore. The Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation announced higher income limits in July 2026, and Home Sweet Texas now uses 150% of the area median family income. That puts the limit at approximately $163,350 in Midland County, about $156,000 in Harris and Galveston counties, and about $155,692 in Jefferson County, for a household of any size. Even the lowest county figure in Texas is about $152,250. For perspective, the Texas median wage for petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers was $84,100 in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.

“My pay is too uneven for a mortgage.” Lenders have written rules for exactly this kind of income. The Fannie Mae Selling Guide recommends two years of overtime or bonus history and accepts as little as 12 months when other strengths offset it. Our guide on how lenders count overtime, per diem, and 1099 income covers each loan type.

“I’ve owned a home before, so I’m out.” Home Sweet Texas and My Choice Texas Home have no first-time-buyer requirement. Only My First Texas Home, TSAHC’s bond-financed assistance, and the Mortgage Credit Certificate ask that you haven’t owned a principal residence in the past three years, and qualified veterans and buyers in targeted areas are exempt from that rule.

“There’s no program for people like me.” True, no program names the oil field, and you don’t need one. The statewide programs aren’t limited by occupation. The one occupation-based program, Homes for Texas Heroes, covers listed professions such as educators, peace officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, corrections officers, nursing and allied health faculty, and veterans, so if you served before you went to work in energy, you may qualify there too.

If any of these kept you from looking, it’s worth a couple of minutes to see where your household actually lands.

Which Texas down payment assistance programs fit oilfield and energy workers?

Energy workers use the same four statewide programs as every other Texas buyer, plus a federal tax credit that pairs with some of them. Two agencies run them: the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC) and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). Here’s how they compare for someone with a solid but uneven paycheck.

Our breakdown of grants vs. forgivable vs. deferred loans explains the trade-offs, and TSAHC vs. TDHCA compares the two agencies side by side.

One practical point: not every lender is approved to offer these programs. TSAHC and TDHCA work through participating lenders, so the lender you choose decides which of these options you can actually use.

Down payment assistance income limits in Texas energy counties (2026)

Limits are set county by county, and they rose in 2026. TSAHC’s Home Sweet Texas figure applies at any household size. TDHCA’s My First Texas Home limit depends on whether your household is 1 to 2 people or 3 or more, and My Choice Texas Home splits by loan type. These are the non-targeted figures for the higher, above-80%-of-median tier, in the counties that hold the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford, the Gulf Coast refineries and ports, and the East and North Texas gas fields.

One Permian county stands out. Glasscock County, on Midland County’s eastern border, carries a Home Sweet Texas limit of approximately $218,880, the highest of any county in Texas in TSAHC’s 2026 figures. Brazoria County, home to Freeport LNG and the Sweeny refinery, is the high point on the coast at about $189,000.

Purchase prices have limits too, and they rarely bite in the energy counties. TDHCA’s My First Texas Home and TSAHC’s bond-financed assistance and MCC use a limit of approximately $566,354 in most of these counties and about $589,596 in Tarrant and Wise. My Choice Texas Home has no purchase-price limit at all. For any county not listed here, our TSAHC income limits and TDHCA income limits guides cover the full state, and Texas purchase price limits has the price caps.

Does overtime count against the down payment assistance income limit?

It depends on the program, and this is where energy households with big overtime years should pay attention. The agencies don’t all measure income the same way.

In practice, that means the same household can look different to different programs. TSAHC’s guidelines say outright that for its MCC and bond-financed options, overtime is always included in income even when it isn’t used to calculate your debt ratios. For Home Sweet Texas without an MCC, the comparison is to the qualifying income on your loan application. A participating lender can run your numbers against each program so you see which ones you actually fit before you choose.

What to do: bring your last two years of W-2s and your most recent pay stubs to that first conversation, with overtime and any bonuses visible. Those are what a lender uses to decide both how much income counts toward the loan and how it compares to each program’s limit.

How lenders read overtime, rotation, and per diem pay

The assistance programs sit on top of a regular mortgage, so your income has to work for the lender first. The good news is that the rules for variable pay are written down. Here’s the short version; our full guide on whether overtime counts for a mortgage covers every loan type in detail.

• Overtime and bonuses. Fannie Mae recommends a two-year history and can accept 12 months with offsetting strengths. Lenders average the income, and if it’s been falling they must see it stabilize before they can use it. The FHA handbook uses two years and allows one year when the overtime has been consistently earned.
• Hourly pay with swinging hours. When your hours vary, Fannie Mae requires at least a 12-month history of that variable base pay.
• Rotation and shift premiums. None of the major lending guides name civilian rotation premiums or shift differentials. Lenders generally review pay that rises and falls with your schedule as variable income, so a steady pattern over time is what matters.
• Per diem. Fannie Mae, FHA, and VA guidelines don’t address per diem as qualifying income. USDA’s handbook does: it counts taxable per diem that shows on your pay statements, with a one-year history. Ask a lender before you count on it.
• Job changes. Moving from contract to contract isn’t a red flag by itself. Fannie Mae’s employment income standards say borrowers who change jobs often but earn consistent, predictable income have a reliable flow of income for qualifying.
• Layoffs and gaps. Under FHA, after a gap of six months or more your current income can count once you’ve been back in your line of work for six months and had a two-year work history before the gap. Unemployment benefits generally only count when they’re tied to seasonal work.

Action step: if you’re between hitches or just changed contractors, write down your employment dates for the past two years, with any gaps and the reason for each. A lender will ask, and having it ready speeds everything up.

Landmen and 1099 contractors: what lenders look for

According to the American Association of Professional Landmen, a landman is the part of an energy exploration team that deals directly with landowners: researching courthouse records to find who owns the minerals, then negotiating leases and other agreements. Independent field landmen serve clients on a contract basis, which usually means a 1099 instead of a W-2.

Lenders typically review 1099 income under self-employment rules, and that changes the paperwork more than the odds.

• History. Fannie Mae generally looks for two years of self-employment. Its self-employed borrower guidelines allow less when your returns show a full 12 months from the current business and you earned the same or more in the same line of work before that. FHA requires two years, or one to two years if you spent at least two years before that in the same or a related occupation.
• A narrower path for simple 1099 income. Freddie Mac’s guide includes a route that treats 1099 income for services as non-self-employed when your Schedule C shows gross receipts equal to your 1099 totals, expenses under 5% of receipts, no cost of goods sold, and at least a 12-month history. A lender can tell you whether your returns fit it.
• Write-offs cut both ways. Lenders qualify self-employed borrowers on the income from their tax returns after business expenses. Mileage, fuel, meal, and travel deductions that lower your tax bill can also lower the income a lender can use, although lenders typically add back non-cash items such as depreciation.
• Home office. TSAHC allows no more than 15% of a home bought with its assistance to be used for business, so a small office for title work is fine, but the house has to stay a home first.

Staff landmen and in-house land professionals on a W-2 salary have it simpler: base pay is the most straightforward income a lender sees.

Working a hitch away from home: the primary-residence rule

Every program on this page is for a home you live in. TSAHC’s guidelines require the financed home to become your principal residence within 60 days of closing, and TDHCA’s Lender Guide sets the same 60-day window for all borrowers and doesn’t allow non-occupying co-borrowers. The three-year forgivable second liens and the MCC also depend on you continuing to live there.

So a crew house near the rig, a second home, or a rental won’t qualify. A 14-and-14 or 21-and-7 schedule is a different situation: if your household lives in the home and you come back to it between hitches, that’s the home you’re buying. Ask a participating lender how they document occupancy for rotational work so there are no surprises later.

If you’re relocating, you may not have to wait until you’ve started the new job to buy. Fannie Mae’s employment offer rules let a lender use a signed offer for a purchase of a one-unit primary residence when the job starts no later than 90 days after closing, with reserves set aside to cover the gap. Only your fixed base pay counts under that option, not expected overtime.

Veterans in the energy industry have one more option

A lot of people in the oil patch served first. If that’s you, three doors open:

• Homes for Texas Heroes. Veterans are one of the eligible groups for TSAHC’s Homes for Texas Heroes program, which uses a higher limit of 170% of area median income. In Midland County that may reach approximately $185,130, and in Harris County about $176,800, for a household of any size. Our veterans home loan guide walks through it.
• The first-time rule goes away. Qualified veterans are exempt from the three-year first-time-buyer rule for My First Texas Home and the MCC.
• A VA loan underneath. A VA loan may let you buy with no down payment, and Texas assistance can still help with closing costs.

The MCC: a tax credit that rewards a real tax bill

The Mortgage Credit Certificate turns part of your mortgage interest into a federal tax credit. Both TSAHC and TDHCA issue it at 15%, and under the IRS Form 8396 rules the $2,000 annual cap only applies when a certificate’s rate is above 20%, so at 15% there’s no annual dollar cap. The credit can’t exceed the federal tax you owe, which is why it tends to work best for households with a solid paycheck.

Here’s a rough example. On a $250,000 loan at 6.75%, you’d pay about $16,790 in interest the first year, so a 15% MCC could be worth up to roughly $2,520 that year, depending on your tax liability. Unused credit can generally carry forward for up to three years.

Two catches matter for energy workers. The MCC uses lower income limits than the assistance programs, about $108,900 for 1 to 2 people and $125,235 for 3 or more in Midland County, and it counts all family income, including overtime. And it’s for first-time buyers, with exemptions for qualified veterans and targeted areas. TSAHC issues its MCC only together with its non-bond down payment assistance or its no-assistance loan, not with its bond-financed assistance, while TDHCA offers one with My First Texas Home or on its own.

Where the work is, and the towns near it

Energy jobs in Texas cluster in a handful of regions. The Railroad Commission of Texas lists the counties in each producing basin, and the refineries, ports, and LNG terminals line the Gulf Coast. Here’s the short map with links to our local guides.

For the refinery list, port tonnage, LNG terminals, and what the jobs pay in each area, see our full guide to refineries in Texas and the towns near them. Regional overviews for West Texas and East Texas pull the county pages together.

How to get started

1. Pick the county where you’ll live. Limits follow the home’s county, not your job site, so a Midland County address and an Ector County address can have different numbers.
2. Check your county’s limits. Compare your household income to the table above or the full TSAHC and TDHCA lists.
3. Gather two years of pay records. That means W-2s and recent pay stubs, plus full tax returns and 1099s if any of your income is contract work, and a signed offer letter if you’re relocating.
4. Take a homebuyer education course. TSAHC requires at least one borrower to finish an approved course before closing, and TDHCA requires each borrower to complete one.
5. Talk with a participating lender. We connect you with a licensed mortgage professional in our partner network who works with Texas down payment assistance programs. The lender handles the loan; ShopDPA doesn’t originate or fund mortgages.

Your work keeps the rest of the state running, and the paperwork for a home loan is often more manageable than it sounds. Know your county’s number, gather two years of records, and let a lender who knows these programs show you which ones you fit. You may find the down payment was never the obstacle you thought it was.

Down payment assistance for oilfield and energy workers: FAQ

Down payment assistance for oilfield and energy workers: FAQ

† ShopDPA is The Texas Down Payment Assistance Marketplace, a home loan and down payment assistance referral service. We are not a mortgage lender, mortgage broker, or loan officer, and we do not originate, fund, or service loans. We connect Texas homebuyers with licensed mortgage professionals and with down payment assistance programs. We are not affiliated with TSAHC, TDHCA, HUD, the VA, the IRS, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the American Association of Professional Landmen, or any government agency or employer. Income limits, purchase-price limits, loan guidelines, and tax-credit terms are set by the applicable agency, investor, or lender and may change; figures shown feature non-targeted, above-80%-AMFI tiers. Wage figures are BLS estimates and are not a prediction of your income. Confirm current details with a participating licensed lender. Equal Housing Opportunity.