Straight answers
What are the housing requirements for H-2A and other farm workers in the US?
When the employer provides the housing, two federal layers apply. An employer hiring through the H-2A program must house its H-2A workers, and workers in corresponding employment who cannot reasonably return home the same day, at no cost to them. Housing the employer provides must meet the full OSHA temporary labor camp standard at 29 CFR 1910.142; only housing completed or under construction before 3 April 1980 may still follow the Department of Labor's older ETA standards. The State Workforce Agency must inspect it and certify that it meets the standard for the number of workers requested, and that determination must be made no later than 30 calendar days before the first date of need. Separately, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act makes whoever owns or controls housing for migrant agricultural workers responsible for federal and state safety and health standards, and bars occupancy until a state or local health authority has certified it.
Figures verified against the sources below · September 25, 2026
01 — The longer answer
The numbers a building has to meet
Sleeping rooms under 29 CFR 1910.142
Each room used for sleeping needs at least 50 square feet of floor space per occupant and a ceiling of at least 7 feet, and a room where workers cook, live and sleep needs at least 100 square feet per person. Beds, cots or bunks sit at least 12 inches off the floor and at least 36 inches apart side to side and end to end. Double-deck bunks need 48 inches between them and at least 27 inches of clear space between the lower and upper bunk, and triple-deck bunks are prohibited. Every sleeping room needs storage such as wall lockers, windows totalling at least one-tenth of the floor area with at least half of each window openable, and 16-mesh screening on exterior openings.
Fixture ratios cap occupancy as much as floor area does
Where toilets are shared, the standard requires one water closet for every 15 people of each sex the camp is designed to house, at least two in any shared facility, and separate toilet rooms for each sex, plus one urinal or 2 linear feet of trough per 25 men. It also requires a handwash basin per family shelter or per six people in shared facilities, a shower head per 10 people, and a laundry tray or tub per 30. Where cooking is shared, stoves run one per 10 people or one per two families. A toilet room must be within 200 feet of the door of each sleeping room and reachable without passing through a sleeping room, and service buildings must hold at least 70 degrees F in cold weather with hot and cold running water.
The details that are structural, not finishing
Floors are wood, asphalt or concrete, and wooden floors sit at least 1 foot above the ground at all points, with earth banking around the walls allowed where temperatures run very low. Where there is central dining, the kitchen and dining hall are separate from sleeping quarters with no direct opening between them. Where electricity is available, every habitable room gets at least one ceiling-type light fixture and a separate wall or floor outlet. The camp's main area, where food is prepared and people sleep, must be at least 500 feet from any area where livestock is kept, which is a siting decision to settle before anything is ordered.
Deadlines: 30 days for H-2A, 45 days under MSPA
For H-2A, the housing determination has to be made at least 30 calendar days before the first date of need on the application. Under MSPA, if the employer asks the state or local agency for an inspection at least 45 days before workers move in and the agency has not inspected by then, the housing may be occupied. Once certified, a copy of the certificate of occupancy must be posted at the site and the original kept for three years. MSPA's housing section does not apply to a business that regularly rents to the general public and houses workers on the same terms. H-2A employers who use rental or public accommodations instead follow local standards, then state standards, then listed parts of the OSHA rule, and pay the owner directly.
The phrase workforce housing is also used for homes priced for moderate earners, which is an affordability and planning topic rather than an employer obligation; this page covers housing an employer provides to its own workers. State rules sit on top of the federal ones, which MSPA says in terms, so read your state's employee housing rules alongside these. As with the BC inspection, the certification belongs to the employer and the inspecting authority, not to the supplier. We can build to a specification and hand over the documentation, and we would not tell any grower that a unit arrives pre-certified.
03 — Sources
Each figure above links to the authority it came from.
20 CFR 655.122(d): the employer must provide housing at no cost to H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment who are not reasonably able to return to their residence within the same day; employer-provided housing must meet the full set of OSHA standards at 29 CFR 1910.142 or the ETA standards at 654.404-654.417, whichever applies under 654.401; the determination must be made not later than 30 calendar days before the first date of need; the SWA must inspect and certify that employer-provided housing is sufficient for the number of workers requested; rental or public accommodations must meet local standards, then State standards, then listed parts of 1910.142, with rent paid by the employer directly to the owner
ecfr.gov20 CFR 654.401: employers whose housing was completed or under construction prior to April 3, 1980, or under a signed contract for construction prior to March 4, 1980, may continue to follow the full set of ETA standards
ecfr.gov29 CFR 1910.142: 50 sq ft of floor space per occupant in sleeping rooms and a 7-foot ceiling; 100 sq ft per person where workers cook, live and sleep; beds 36 inches apart and 12 inches off the floor; double bunks 48 inches apart with 27 inches clear between bunks; triple-deck bunks prohibited; windows at least one-tenth of floor area, half openable; 16-mesh screening; wooden floors at least 1 foot above ground; camp area at least 500 feet from livestock; shared toilets one per 15 persons of each sex, minimum two; urinals one per 25 men; handwash basin per family shelter or per six persons; shower head per 10; laundry tray per 30; stoves one per 10 persons or per two families; toilet room within 200 feet of each sleeping room; service buildings at least 70 degrees F in cold weather; ceiling light fixture and outlet in each habitable room
ecfr.gov29 U.S.C. 1823 (MSPA section 203): each person who owns or controls housing for migrant agricultural workers is responsible for compliance with substantive Federal and State safety and health standards; no occupancy until a State or local health authority or other appropriate agency certifies it, with the certificate posted at the site and the original kept three years; occupancy allowed if inspection was requested at least 45 days before and not conducted; does not apply to persons who regularly provide housing on a commercial basis to the general public on the same terms
law.cornell.edu
Follow this journal
Add KYRAX as a preferred source in Google and our guides show up higher in your own search results, marked as preferred where Google cites us. It changes what you see, not what anyone else does.
Have a lot in mind?
We check your destination before you sign anything. 30 minutes, no obligation.