Changes to SNAP Benefits: Work Rules, Deductions, and Caps

Changes to SNAP benefits took two forms in 2025. On July 4, the budget reconciliation act (P.L. 119-21) expanded work requirements to adults up to age 64, pulled parents of teenagers into those rules, eliminated exemptions that had protected veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth, and rewrote parts of the shelter deduction that determines how much you receive. Then on October 1, the annual cost-of-living adjustment set the FY 2026 maximum monthly benefit at $298 for a single person and $994 for a household of four in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.¹² The reforms reshape who qualifies, how benefits are calculated, and how much future increases can grow.

Work Requirements Now Reach Age 64

SNAP has long imposed a time limit on adults without dependents who are considered able-bodied. Under pre-2023 rules, the limit applied to adults 18 through 49. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 began phasing that ceiling up to 54 by October 1, 2024.³ P.L. 119-21 pushed the ceiling to 64. It also swept in parents whose youngest child is 14 or older, a group previously outside the time limit entirely.²

The mechanics of the rule are unchanged. You get three months of benefits within any three-year period unless you work, train, or volunteer at least 80 hours per month. Paid employment, unpaid work, a job training program, or a mix all count.⁴ After three months without meeting that threshold, benefits stop until you either start meeting it or the calendar moves past your three-year window.

Exemptions Removed and Added

The 2023 law had created protections from the time limit for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults who aged out of foster care on their 18th birthday. P.L. 119-21 eliminated all three. In their place, the new law exempts Indians, Urban Indians, and California Indians as defined in cross-referenced federal statutes.² If you were relying on one of the eliminated exemptions, you now need to hit the 80-hour monthly threshold or you’ll lose benefits after three months.

Tighter Waiver Rules for States

States have historically requested waivers from the ABAWD time limit for areas with high unemployment or insufficient jobs.⁵ Under the new law, waivers are limited to areas with unemployment above 10 percent. For Alaska and Hawaii, the threshold is 1.5 times the national unemployment rate. Through December 31, 2028, USDA can also grant exemptions in those two states if the state shows a good-faith effort to help participants meet the work requirement.²

Shelter and Utility Deductions Have Been Narrowed

Two provisions in P.L. 119-21 change how housing costs factor into your benefit. Internet expenses can no longer be included when calculating the excess shelter deduction. If you were counting your monthly internet bill as part of housing costs, that amount will no longer reduce your net income.

The second change targets the standard utility allowance. For households without an elderly or disabled member, receiving a LIHEAP or state energy assistance payment of any amount no longer automatically qualifies the household for that allowance. Households that include someone who is elderly or disabled are not affected by this change.² Both changes translate directly into smaller shelter deductions and lower monthly benefits for affected households.

Future Benefit Increases Are Capped

In 2021, USDA reevaluated the Thrifty Food Plan for the first time in decades, producing a roughly 21 percent increase in maximum benefits. That single update was the largest boost in the program’s history. P.L. 119-21 prevents a repeat. USDA cannot reevaluate the plan’s market baskets before October 1, 2027, and any future reevaluation cannot increase benefits faster than inflation as measured by CPI-U.² Annual COLAs still occur each October, but the kind of structural reset that happened in 2021 is now blocked by statute.

FY 2026 Maximum Allotments

USDA recalculates maximum SNAP allotments every October 1 based on the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan.¹ For the 48 contiguous states and D.C., the FY 2026 maximums are:

1 person: $298
2 people: $546
3 people: $785
4 people: $994
5 people: $1,183
6 people: $1,421
7 people: $1,571
8 people: $1,789
Each additional person: $218

Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have higher allotments reflecting higher food costs.¹

How Your Benefit Is Calculated

Most households don’t receive the maximum. Your benefit equals the maximum for your household size minus 30 percent of your net monthly income. The logic is that households are expected to spend about 30 percent of their own resources on food, and SNAP covers the gap between that contribution and what a basic diet costs.⁶

Net income is what remains after deductions, and the deductions do a lot of the work:

Standard deduction of $209 per month for households of one to three people in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. Larger households and those in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands receive more.
Earned income deduction of 20 percent of all earned income.
Dependent care costs paid out of pocket when needed for work, training, or education.
Medical expenses above $35 per month for household members who are 60 or older or have a disability, when not covered by insurance.
Excess shelter costs (rent, mortgage, property taxes, qualifying utilities) that exceed half of income after the other deductions. The shelter deduction is capped at $744 per month for households without an elderly or disabled member, and uncapped for households with one.

These figures are FY 2026 amounts for the contiguous states.⁶ Two households with the same income can end up with very different benefits depending on rent, dependent care, and medical costs. If your monthly amount looks low, check whether every deduction you qualify for is actually being applied.

Income and Resource Limits

To qualify, gross monthly income generally must fall at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level, and net income after deductions must fall at or below 100 percent. FY 2026 gross monthly limits in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. include:

1 person: $1,696
2 people: $2,292
4 people: $3,483

Alaska and Hawaii use higher limits.¹ Households in which every member is elderly or receives certain government payments face only the net income test.

Countable assets are also limited: $3,000 for most households in FY 2026, or $4,500 if a member is 60 or older or has a disability. Your primary home is not counted, and vehicle rules vary by state.⁶

Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility

Most states use a policy called broad-based categorical eligibility, which lets them raise or drop the federal asset test and set gross income limits as high as 200 percent of the poverty level. As of early 2026, 46 states use some version of it. If you’re close to the income or asset cutoff, your state’s rules may pull you back in. BBCE only affects who qualifies; the actual benefit amount is still calculated using the standard federal formula, so a higher-income household admitted through BBCE may receive a very small monthly payment.

Stolen Benefits Are No Longer Federally Replaceable

One change from earlier legislation is worth flagging because it affects what happens if your card is skimmed. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 created a temporary federal program to replace stolen SNAP benefits, capped at the lesser of the amount stolen or two months of allotment, and no more than twice per fiscal year per household.⁷ That authority expired for benefits stolen after December 20, 2024. As of mid-2026, there is no active federal program guaranteeing replacement, though some states have created their own funds. Report any theft to your state agency immediately; whether you get replacement depends on state policy. USDA is also pushing states to move EBT cards to chip technology, with rollout timelines varying by state.⁸

1
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information
2
Congress.gov. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Related Provisions in P.L. 119-21
3
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Provisions in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
4
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.24 – Time Limit for Able-Bodied Adults
5
Food and Nutrition Service. ABAWD Waivers FY 2025-2029
6
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
7
Congress.gov. SNAP EBT Card Skimming
8
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP EBT Modernization