Your efc will not depend on the address, but on the official custodial parent. If both parents have joint custody, then the parent with whom the child has spent 183 days/nights or more is used as the reference.
EFC is only the minimum a family is expected to pay.
Out of the 3,700 colleges in the US, only about 60 “meet need”. So, if your EFC is $18,000 and your state university costs $23,000, you’ll get a loan for $5,000 and you’ll be on your own for the rest. Or if it costs $32,000, well, you still get a $5,500 loan and you’re supposed to find the rest, unless you qualify Pell (~45k income) or your state has grants for which you qualify.
If that’s too much, your child must chase merit - colleges that’ll give scholarships for high (or relatively high) test scores regardless of family income. If you want your son to chase merit you have to talk to him TODAY because by not telling him till now he has missed quite a few deadlines (Oct 15, Nov1, Nov 15). The last deadline is Dec1 for big merit scholarships.
What do you call middle income? If less than 75k, or even 100k, your best bet is “meet need schools”. If it’s “middle income for College Confidential” aka 200-250k then the situation is very different.
(Note that meet need schools will take into account both your and your husband’s income plus your stepson’s mother’s income plus the income of any new spouse. )
What are his stats?
Examples of academic rigor?
State of residence?
Intended major?
Your income?
What budget did you give him when he made his list and have you changed your mind since then?
With the above information we can suggest all sorts of universities that’ll be affordable.
To give you ideas: if you make less than 95k and he has a 34 act then UMichigan would be worth applying to.
If he has a 27-29 ACT and you can afford 30k, Drew would be a very good deal.
A 1400-1450 sat unlocks scholarships at public universities (notably at UAlabama) as well as some private colleges.