How Food Stamps Are Calculated: Income Limits and Deductions

Food stamps are calculated with a single federal formula: take the maximum monthly allotment for your household size, then subtract 30 percent of your household’s net income after allowable deductions. What’s left is your monthly SNAP benefit. In fiscal year 2026, a four-person household with no countable net income receives the full maximum of $994 per month in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.; a household with income receives less, in an amount driven almost entirely by which deductions apply.

The Formula in Three Steps

The federal rule assumes a household will spend 30 percent of its net income on food, and SNAP fills the gap between that expected contribution and the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan.¹ The math has three steps:

Multiply your net monthly income by 0.30.
Find the maximum allotment for your household size.
Subtract the first number from the second. The difference is your monthly benefit.

Everything else in the calculation is really about arriving at the correct net income number for step one.

What Counts as Your Household

SNAP treats everyone who lives together and normally buys and prepares meals as a group as a single household, and every person in that group has their income counted, even if only one of them applies. Spouses living together, and children under 22 living with a parent, are always in the same household regardless of how meals are handled. Someone who rents a room and buys and cooks food entirely on their own can qualify as a separate one-person household.

Figuring Net Income: The Deductions

Net income is gross income minus the deductions federal regulations allow.² Each deduction you qualify for lowers the 30 percent figure in step one, which raises your benefit.

Standard Deduction

Every household gets a flat standard deduction regardless of actual expenses. For fiscal year 2026 in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.:³

1–3 people: $209
4 people: $223
5 people: $261
6 or more people: $299

Earned Income Deduction

If anyone in the household has wages or self-employment income, 20 percent of that gross earned income is subtracted. Someone earning $2,000 a month generates a $400 deduction.

Dependent Care Deduction

Actual out-of-pocket costs for child care or the care of an incapacitated adult are deductible when that care lets a household member work, look for work, or attend training. Federal rules do not cap this deduction.

Medical Expense Deduction

Household members who are at least 60 or who receive disability benefits can deduct out-of-pocket medical costs above $35 a month.⁴ Only the amount over $35 counts. Prescriptions, dental care, eyeglasses, hearing aids, therapy, and transportation to medical appointments all qualify. Costs already paid by insurance or a third party do not.

Excess Shelter Deduction

If rent or mortgage, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and utilities together exceed half of your income after the deductions above are applied, the excess is deductible. Most states let households use a standard utility allowance, a fixed monthly amount for typical utility costs, instead of tracking each bill.⁵ For fiscal year 2026 the deduction is capped at $744 a month in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.⁶ Households with an elderly or disabled member have no cap; the full excess is subtracted.

Homeless Shelter Deduction

Homeless households with any shelter costs can claim a fixed $198.99 per month instead of itemizing.³

A Worked Example

Take a three-person household with $2,500 in gross monthly income and $1,200 a month in rent and utilities.

Standard deduction: $209
Earned income deduction (20% of $2,500): $500
Adjusted income: $2,500 − $209 − $500 = $1,791
Half of adjusted income: $895.50. Shelter costs over that: $1,200 − $895.50 = $304.50, so the shelter deduction is $304.
Net income: $1,791 − $304 = $1,487
Expected food contribution (30%): $1,487 × 0.30 = $446.10, rounded up to $447
Maximum allotment for three people: $785
Monthly benefit: $785 − $447 = $338

Maximum Monthly Allotments for Fiscal Year 2026

The maximum allotment is the ceiling in step two of the formula, based on the Thrifty Food Plan and updated each October. For the 48 contiguous states and D.C.:⁷

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: add $218

A household with zero net income after deductions receives the full maximum. Amounts are higher in Alaska and Hawaii.

Minimum Benefit and Rounding

If the formula produces zero or a negative number, the household does not qualify. But eligible one- and two-person households always receive at least the minimum benefit of $24 per month in the 48 contiguous states and D.C., even when the math would give them less. The minimum equals 8 percent of the one-person maximum, rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Final benefit amounts are rounded down to the nearest whole dollar.¹

Income Limits That Gate the Calculation

Before the formula runs, most households must pass a gross income test at 130 percent of the federal poverty level and a net income test at 100 percent.⁸ For fiscal year 2026, the monthly limits in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. are:

1 person: $1,696 gross / $1,305 net
2 people: $2,292 gross / $1,763 net
3 people: $2,888 gross / $2,221 net
4 people: $3,483 gross / $2,680 net
5 people: $4,079 gross / $3,138 net
6 people: $4,675 gross / $3,596 net
7 people: $5,271 gross / $4,055 net
8 people: $5,867 gross / $4,513 net
Each additional person: add $596 gross / $459 net

Households that include someone at least 60 years old or receiving disability benefits only have to meet the net income limit; the gross test does not apply to them.² About 39 states and territories use broad-based categorical eligibility to raise the gross income cutoff to somewhere between 150 and 200 percent of the poverty level, so a household over the 130 percent line may still pass in those states.⁹ Your state SNAP office can tell you which limit applies where you live.

When Your Benefit Gets Recalculated

The calculation is not a one-time event. Any change in income, household size, shelter costs, dependent care, or medical expenses can move your net income and change your benefit. Report changes to your local SNAP office, and the agency will re-run the formula and adjust your monthly amount.

1
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.10 – Determining Household Eligibility and Benefit Levels
2
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.9 – Income and Deductions
3
USDA Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustments
4
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Medical Expenses Handbook
5
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Standard Utility Allowance Annual Review and Adjustment
6
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Cost-of-Living Adjustment Information
7
USDA Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY 2026 Maximum Allotments and Deductions
8
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
9
Food and Nutrition Service. Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility