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Food Assistance
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A Quick Guide to SNAP Eligibility and Benefits

Most families and individuals who meet the program’s income guidelines are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program).[1] The size of a family’s SNAP benefit is based on its income and certain expenses. This paper provides a short summary of SNAP eligibility and benefit calculation rules that are in effect for federal fiscal year 2027, which began in October 2026.

Determining Eligibility

Under federal rules, to be eligible for SNAP benefits a household’s[2] income and resources must meet three tests, though income and asset limits are higher for households that are categorically eligible for SNAP, and most states have raised income and asset limits using “broad-based categorical eligibility.”[3]

  • Gross monthly income — that is, household income before any of the program’s deductions are applied — generally must be at or below 130 percent of the poverty line. For a family of three, the poverty line used to calculate SNAP benefits in federal fiscal year 2027 is $2,277 a month. Thus, 130 percent of the poverty line for a three-person family is $2,960 a month, or about $35,520 a year. The poverty level is higher for bigger families and lower for smaller families.[4]
  • Net income, or household income after deductions are applied, must be at or below the poverty line.
  • Assets must fall below certain limits: households without a member who is age 60 or older or has a disability must have assets of $3,000 or less; households with such a member must have assets of $4,750 or less.

What counts as income?

SNAP counts cash income from all sources, including earned income (before payroll taxes are deducted) and unearned income such as cash assistance, Social Security, unemployment insurance, and child support.

What counts as an asset?

Generally, resources that could be available to the household to purchase food, such as amounts in bank accounts, count as assets. Items that are not accessible, such as the household’s home, personal property, and retirement savings, do not count. Most automobiles do not count.[5]

Who is not eligible?

Some categories of people are not eligible for SNAP regardless of their income or assets, such as individuals who are on strike, all people without a documented immigration status, many immigrants with lawful immigration statuses,[6] some students attending college more than half time,[7] and certain people with drug-related felony convictions in some states.

Who faces a time limit on receiving SNAP unless they meet additional requirements?

Many adults ages 18 through 64 who do not have children under age 14 in the home and do not have disabilities are limited to three months of SNAP benefits every three years if they are not working or in a work or training program at least 20 hours a week. In addition, states have broad authority to require participation in employment and training programs and take benefits away from those assigned adults who fail to comply. (See box, “SNAP’s Three-Month Time Limit.”)

Calculating Benefit Amounts

SNAP expects families receiving benefits to spend 30 percent of their net income on food. Families with no net income receive the maximum benefit, which is tied to the cost of USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). The TFP represents the cost of purchasing and preparing a nutritionally adequate diet, consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, for people in low-income households, assuming they take significant steps to stretch their food budget.

For households with net income, the monthly SNAP benefit equals the maximum benefit for that household size minus the household’s expected contribution of 30 percent of its net income.[8]

TABLE 1
SNAP Benefits by Household Size, Fiscal Year 2027
Household SizeMaximum Monthly BenefitEstimated Average Monthly Benefit
1$306$210
2$562$375
3$808$600
4$1,023$720
5$1,217$820
6$1,463$1,025
7$1,616$1,145
8$1,841$1,060
Each additional person (9-17)$225 

Note: Estimated average benefits (rounded down to the nearest $5) are based on fiscal year 2024 SNAP Quality Control (QC) Household Characteristics data, the most recent data with this information, adjusted to incorporate the updated SNAP parameters for fiscal year 2027 and inflated to incorporate increases in income and expenses. The programmatic changes to SNAP due to the Republican reconciliation law enacted in July 2025, such as the expansion of the three-month time limit and reduction of the standard utility allowance as well as increased administrative hurdles imposed by state agencies as they seek to lower payment error rates, is causing a shift in the composition of SNAP caseloads and benefits that may result in different average monthly benefits than presented here. The 2025 reconciliation law capped the maximum benefit to households of 18 or more members.

Source: USDA, “SNAP FY 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustments,” August 21, 2026, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/allotment/cola/fy27. SNAP benefits in Alaska, Hawai‘i, Guam, and the Virgin Islands are higher than in the other 48 states and Washington, D.C. because income eligibility standards, maximum benefits, and deduction amounts are different in those states and territories.

Table 1 shows the maximum SNAP benefit levels and estimated average benefits in fiscal year 2027 for households of different sizes. For example, consider a family of three: if that family had no income, it would receive the maximum benefit of $808 per month; if it had $600 in net monthly income, it would receive the maximum benefit ($808) minus 30 percent of its net income (30 percent of $600 is $180), or $628. We estimate the average benefit per person in fiscal year 2027 will be about $192 per month, $6.30 per day, or $2.10 per meal.[9]

Deductions play an important role in determining SNAP benefits. They reflect the fact that not all of a household’s income is available for purchasing food; some must be used to meet other needs. In determining available (or net) income, the program allows the following deductions from a household’s gross monthly income:

  • standard deduction to account for basic unavoidable costs;[10]
  • earnings deduction equal to 20 percent of earnings (this accounts for work-related expenses and payroll taxes while also acting as a work incentive);
  • dependent care deduction for the out-of-pocket child care or other dependent care expenses that are necessary for a household member to work or participate in education or training;
  • child support deduction for any legally obligated child support that a household member pays;[11]
  • medical expense deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses greater than $35 a month that a household member who is an older adult or has a disability incurs;[12] and
  • excess shelter deduction, set at the amount by which the household’s housing costs (including utilities[13]) exceed half of its net income after all other deductions. For example, the excess shelter deduction in 48 states and D.C. is limited to $769 in 2027 unless at least one household member is an older adult or has a disability.[14]

All SNAP households can receive the standard deduction. In fiscal year 2024 (the latest data available), over two-thirds (68 percent) of SNAP households claimed the shelter deduction, while 27 percent of households (and over half of households with children) claimed the earnings deduction. By contrast, the medical, dependent care, and child support deductions were claimed by small shares of SNAP households: nearly 6 percent, 2 percent, and 1 percent, respectively.[15] (For an example of how deductions affect benefit levels, see box, “Example: Calculating a Household’s Monthly SNAP Benefits.”)

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End Notes

[1] Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, are excluded from SNAP and fund their food assistance programs through capped block grants. The U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam are the only two U.S. Territories that fully participate in SNAP, as well as all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

[2] A “household” for SNAP consists of individuals who live together in the same residence and who purchase and prepare food together.

[3] Broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) is a state policy option that most states have adopted to raise SNAP income limits somewhat so that low-income working families that have difficulty making ends meet, such as because they face costly housing or child care expenses, can receive help affording adequate food. The policy also lets states adopt less restrictive asset tests so that low-income households can have modest savings without losing SNAP. See Dottie Rosenbaum, Joseph Llobrera, Catlin Nchako, and Luis Nuñez, “SNAP’s ‘Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility’ Supports Working Families, Older Adults, and Those Saving for the Future,” March 17, 2026, https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/snaps-broad-based-categorical-eligibility-supports-working-families-older. See USDA, “Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE),” https://www.fna.usda.gov/snap/broad-based-categorical-eligibility, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/broad-based-categorical-eligibilityfor a list of states that have lifted the income and/or asset tests for most of the caseload by expanding categorical eligibility.

[4] Households with members who are older adults or have a disability are not subject to the gross income test.

[5] Federal SNAP rules count the market value of most vehicles above a dollar threshold ($4,650) toward the asset limit, but states have significant flexibility to apply less restrictive vehicle asset rules, and every state has adopted this flexibility.

[6] Under the Republican reconciliation law enacted in July 2025, only U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (after a five-year waiting period, if applicable), people granted Cuban or Haitian entrant status, and people who live in the United States under a Compact of Free Association (COFA) can qualify for SNAP. In some cases, the income and resources of the immigrant’s sponsor count toward the immigrant’s eligibility. For detailed information on non-citizens’ eligibility for SNAP, see https://www.fna.usda.gov/snap/recipient/eligibility/non-citizen.

[7] For more information on college student eligibility, see https://www.fna.usda.gov/snap/students.

[8] Eligible households with one or two members qualify for at least a “minimum benefit,” which is $25 in fiscal year 2027 for 48 states and the District of Columbia (with higher amounts for Alaska, Hawai‘i, Guam, and the Virgin Islands).

[9] The actual average benefit per person is $189 per month, both in fiscal year 2025 and to date in fiscal year 2026, which comes to about $6.22 per person per meal. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, “SNAP Data Tables: FY 23 through FY 26 National View Summary (Latest Available Month: June 2026),” updated as of September 11, 2026, https://fna-bwbufwdzbabpezgc.z01.azurefd.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-4fymonthly-9.pdf.

[10] The standard deduction varies by household size. For example, in 48 states and D.C., it is $217 for households of one to three members and $229, $268, and $308 for households with four, five, and six or more members, respectively (fiscal year 2027).

[11] Some states have replaced the deduction for child support payments with an income exclusion in the same amount under a state option from the 2002 farm bill.

[12] To simplify processes for both households and states, about half of states have set a standard monthly medical expense deduction that households can claim if their monthly medical expenses exceed $35. There is evidence that suggests this deduction is underutilized. See Ty Jones, “SNAP’s Excess Medical Expense Deduction: Targeting Food Assistance to Low-Income Seniors and Individuals With Disabilities,” CBPP, August 20, 2014, https://www.cbpp.org/research/snaps-excess-medical-expense-deduction.

[13] To simplify SNAP benefit calculations, states are permitted to add a “standard utility allowance” (SUA) to a household’s other housing costs and use the resulting sum when determining the family’s shelter deduction, rather than requiring verification of actual utility expenses. Under prior law, households receiving more than $20 in annual benefits under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 or other similar energy assistance programs automatically qualified for the heating and cooling SUA (HCSUA). But under the Republican reconciliation law enacted in July 2025, such households automatically qualify only if they have an elderly or disabled member; other households will have to provide documentation of their heating and cooling expenses.

[14] For a detailed analysis of the shelter deduction, see Dorothy Rosenbaum, Daniel Tenny, and Sam Elkin, “The Food Stamp Shelter Deduction: Helping Households with High Housing Burdens Meet Their Food Needs,” CBPP, June 2002, https://www.cbpp.org/7-1-02fs.pdf.

[15] See Table A.9 in Mia Monkovic and Ben Ward, “Characteristics of SNAP Households: Fiscal Year 2024,” USDA, August 2026, https://www.fna.usda.gov/research/snap/characteristics-fy24.