"Paying for upkeep" doesn't, of itself, qualify you for head of household (HoH) filing status. Paying rent goes a long way towards qualifying you, but may not be enough alone.
The main requirements for Head of Household are: a taxpayer that
1) is single or did not live with their spouse at any time during the last
half of the tax year.
2) has at least one closely related dependent (usually a child) that lived
with the taxpayer for more than half the year
3) pays over half of the support of the household expenses, including rent, utilities and food eaten in the home
