What Is SNAP? An Overview of the Largest Federal Anti-Hunger Program
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal program aimed at combating hunger and food insecurity among low-income Americans. Previously referred to as food stamps, SNAP benefits are transferred to eligible families through debit cards, which can be used to purchase food items in retail stores.
SNAP has a positive effect on poverty and food insecurity, with a relatively small effect on the federal budget. In fiscal year 2024, SNAP:
- Assisted approximately 42 million low-income participants per month
- Totaled $100 billion, or 1.6 percent of the federal budget
- Averaged $187 per month in benefits per person
Recently, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made significant changes to the program that will reduce SNAP spending. Below is a look at how SNAP works, who benefits from it, and its place in the federal budget.
How Much Does SNAP Cost?
SNAP comprises a small portion of the federal budget, and it is not a key driver of our federal debt. In fiscal year 2024, spending for SNAP made up 1.6 percent of total federal spending. SNAP was designed to be a counter-cyclical income-security program, meaning that participation automatically should expand during economic downturns and shrink in response to reduced need.
While SNAP is not a large part of the federal budget, it is the largest nutrition assistance program in the United States by far. The program alone constituted approximately half of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) budget and 70 percent of all federal food assistance spending in fiscal year 2024. Whereas other nutrition assistance programs target specific populations like schoolchildren and new mothers, SNAP is generally available to households in need and is therefore more responsive to fluctuations in the economy.
How Does SNAP Determine Eligibility and Benefit Levels?
In general, there are two paths for SNAP eligibility. Many participants are eligible for SNAP benefits because they receive assistance from other federal programs, such as Supplemental Security Income or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Households that do not receive assistance from those programs may still qualify for SNAP, but they must meet certain income and asset tests. Apart from income eligibility standards, heads of households age 16 to 64 generally must also register to work and accept suitable job offers to receive SNAP benefits. Of that group, able-bodied adults age 18 to 49 without dependents are limited to three months of benefits out of every three years unless they meet additional work requirements or are exempted by their state.
When calculating benefit amounts for SNAP, the USDA relies on its Thrifty Food Plan, a set of dietary guidelines designed to meet nutritional needs at a low cost. Based on those guidelines, the USDA sets maximum benefits for different household sizes, which is shown in the table below. Not including SNAP benefits received, households are expected to spend 30 percent of their net income (after certain deductions) on food.
Therefore, when determining benefits, the USDA determines a household’s net income, calculates its maximum benefit level based on household size, and subtracts 30 percent of the household’s net income from the maximum benefit amount. . If the household’s net income totaled $500 per month, 30 percent, or $150, would be subtracted from the maximum monthly benefit, making that family’s monthly benefit $618. In 2023, 36 percent of all SNAP-participating households received the maximum benefit.
While policymakers enacted temporary benefit increases in response to heightened economic hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, those provisions have since expired. However, the USDA reevaluated the Thrifty Food Plan in 2021 pursuant to the 2018 Farm Bill, which led to a 21 percent permanent increase in SNAP benefits compared to pre-pandemic levels. That was the largest increase in benefits in the program’s history and was separate from the COVID-related enhancements to the program. For fiscal year 2025, the maximum allotment for a family of four is $975 per month. SNAP benefits are adjusted annually for inflation each October.
Individuals and households must submit an application and undergo an interview to receive SNAP benefits. Once deemed eligible, they receive an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card that is automatically filled with the designated benefit amount every month. EBT cards work like debit cards and can be used at any authorized food store. Households cannot use their benefits to purchase items like cigarettes and alcohol, or for hot foods.
Some people are ineligible for SNAP for reasons other than failing to meet financial and work requirements. Those include individuals who are on strike, unauthorized immigrants, and some lawful non-citizens.
Who Benefits from SNAP?
In fiscal year 2023, the latest year for which data are available, 73 percent of SNAP households lived in poverty, and 35 percent of households lived in “deep” poverty, defined as those with incomes below 50 percent of the poverty threshold (or $13,875 for a family of four).
SNAP benefits have a positive effect on poverty, and after taking benefits into account, the share of participants in poverty fell by 17 percentage points in 2023. However, some argue that SNAP can be reformed in order to better meet the long-term needs of those it aims to serve.
SNAP is a wide-reaching program that provides support to many individuals and households across geographical boundaries. In 2023, 12 percent of all Americans participated in SNAP, and the rate of participation varied widely by state.
A majority of households receiving SNAP benefits include a child, an elderly person, or an individual with a disability. According to the USDA, 39 percent of such households in fiscal year 2023 included children, and 28 percent contained someone who was elderly or disabled. However, many eligible people from those vulnerable groups do not receive any benefits. According to the latest report by the USDA, only 55 percent of eligible elderly individuals were enrolled in the program in fiscal year 2022, in contrast to 88 percent of all eligible individuals. Many of them were unaware that they were eligible, believed that their benefits would have been insignificant, or were unable to go to a grocery store to use the benefits.
While SNAP is not a large part of the federal budget, it is the largest nutrition assistance program in the United States by far; the program alone constituted almost half of USDA’s budget and about 73 percent of all federal food assistance spending in fiscal year 2023. Whereas other nutrition assistance programs target specific populations like schoolchildren and new mothers, SNAP is generally available to households in need and therefore more responsive to fluctuations in the economy.
How Did OBBBA Change SNAP?
On July 4, 2025, lawmakers enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which extended and enhanced tax cuts originally enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The OBBBA is projected to increase deficits by $4.1 trillion, including additional interest costs, from 2025 through 2034. The legislation also included net spending cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and federal student loan programs totaling $1.0 trillion. The legislation made five major changes to SNAP that will reduce spending on the program by $187 billion, or 17 percent, over the 10-year period:
Capping Annual Increases to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP)
The Department of Agriculture is now limited in its ability to reevaluate the cost of the TFP, which determines the maximum SNAP benefit for all participants. The cost of the TFP can only be adjusted on October 1 of each year, and the adjustment must be based on changes to the consumer price index for all urban consumers. The Department must not consider “current food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, and dietary guidance” when reevaluating the TFP. Those changes come after the Department reevaluated the TFP in 2021 in response to the rise of food prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the limitations in the OBBBA will reduce the average monthly SNAP benefit relative to its January 2025 projections.
Expanding Work Requirements and Limiting Exceptions
The OBBBA expands work requirements to able-bodied adults aged 55 to 64 who do not live with dependent children or who live with dependent children age 14 and older, meaning those requirements now apply to all adults age 18 to 64. Work requirements were also extended to veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and adults 18 to 24 who were in foster care when they turned 18, while new work requirement exclusions were made for American Indians.
The legislation also changed rules for states and localities to waive work requirements. Previously, states could waive work requirements for people who live in counties with an unemployment rate above 10 percent or that are determined to not have a sufficient number of available jobs. Now, only the former criterion for waiving work requirements is available for states. CBO projects that those changes to SNAP work requirements will reduce the number of SNAP participants by 300,000 people.
Other OBBBA Changes to SNAP
Other changes to SNAP include:
- Adding requirements for error payments made by states: Starting in 2028, states with error payment rates greater than 6 percent will be required to pay at least 5 percent of the cost of the state’s SNAP benefits. CBO estimates that that the provision will reduce federal spending by $41 billion from 2028 through 2034, $35 billion of which will be from states paying for some SNAP benefits.
- Limiting income deductions: Some SNAP participants will no longer be able to deduct certain energy and internet expenses from their income when calculating SNAP benefits.
- Restricting noncitizen eligibility: The OBBBA limits SNAP eligibility to citizens, green card holders, Cuban or Haitian entrants, and people who are in the United States under the Compact of Free Association.
Conclusion
SNAP is a program that benefits Americans who live near or in poverty. In the past, it has proven to be a critical part of the safety net for some of the most vulnerable American populations and an effective automatic stabilizer that stimulates the economy during economic downturns. Spending on SNAP is not a significant driver of our nation’s overall fiscal imbalance, which is largely rooted in structural factors stemming from an aging population and rising healthcare costs.
Image credit: USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
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