How Many Americans Use Food Stamps and Who Qualifies?

About 41.7 million Americans used food stamps each month during fiscal year 2024, roughly 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service.¹ Those benefits are delivered through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the modern successor to the paper food stamp system. The 41.7 million figure covers roughly 21.6 million households and represents the most recent full fiscal year of data; the USDA updates state and national participation counts monthly.²

How Enrollment Has Moved Over Time

SNAP participation rises and falls with the economy. When unemployment climbs, so does enrollment; when wages rise and jobs are easier to find, households cross above the income limits and leave on their own. Participation peaked above 47 million in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and surged again during the pandemic before settling closer to the current level.

Most people don’t stay on the program indefinitely. Families with children typically receive benefits for about a year. Elderly people living alone tend to stay enrolled much longer, because their income sources don’t change.

Two policy developments will shape the numbers going forward. The 2018 Farm Bill, which sets SNAP’s basic rules and funding, was extended through September 2025 after Congress could not agree on a new version.³ Separately, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 made the deepest structural changes to SNAP in decades, tightening work rules and narrowing eligibility in ways expected to reduce enrollment.

Who Uses Food Stamps

Children are the single largest group of recipients. In fiscal year 2023, people under 18 accounted for about 39 percent of all SNAP participants. Working-age adults from 18 to 59 made up 42 percent, and adults 60 and older made up roughly 19 percent.⁴

Older recipients often rely on SNAP to stretch fixed retirement income when Social Security alone does not cover housing and groceries. Single-parent households make up a large share of participating families, reflecting the financial strain of raising children on one income. The program reaches every racial and ethnic background, working families, retirees, people with disabilities, and adults between jobs. There is no single demographic that defines the SNAP caseload.

How Many SNAP Recipients Work

Employment among recipients is higher than most people assume. Among SNAP households with children, 55 percent had earned income from jobs in fiscal year 2023.⁴ Looked at across a full calendar year rather than a single month, the picture shifts further: among households with a working-age adult without a disability that received SNAP at any point during 2023, 82 percent of childless households and 91 percent of households with children reported earnings that year.

The gap between monthly and annual employment rates is the story. In a given month, about half of non-disabled adults under 60 on SNAP are employed. Over a full year, almost all of them work at some point. Many cycle between jobs, work seasonally, or have gaps between positions. SNAP functions as a bridge during those gaps rather than a substitute for earned income.

The jobs recipients hold tend to be in food service, retail, home health care, and similar sectors where pay often falls short of covering basic living expenses. SNAP’s formula accounts for this with a 20 percent earned income deduction, so benefits phase down gradually as earnings rise rather than cutting off at once.

Which States Have the Most Food Stamp Recipients

SNAP is federally funded, but states run applications, verify eligibility, and issue benefits. Participation rates vary widely as a result. In fiscal year 2024, New Mexico had the highest share of residents on SNAP at 21.2 percent, and Utah had the lowest at 4.8 percent.¹

Higher-enrollment states tend to have more low-wage industries and more persistent rural poverty. Administrative choices also matter. Most states have used Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility to raise income limits above the standard federal threshold, letting households earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level qualify in some places.⁵

Take-up among people who qualify is another lever. A 2022 USDA study estimated that 88 percent of eligible Americans actually received SNAP benefits nationwide, with substantially higher rates in New Mexico, Illinois, Oregon, and Massachusetts, and significantly lower rates in nearly 20 other states.⁶

Who Qualifies for SNAP

Most households must meet both a gross income test and a net income test. For fiscal year 2026 in the 48 contiguous states, the limits are:⁷

Gross income at 130 percent of poverty: $1,696 per month for one person, $2,888 for a household of three, $3,483 for a household of four.
Net income at 100 percent of poverty: $1,305 per month for one person, $2,221 for a household of three, $2,680 for a household of four.

Gross income is everything coming in before deductions. Net income is what remains after subtracting the standard deduction, the 20 percent earned income deduction, excess shelter costs, and dependent care expenses. Households that include an elderly or disabled member only need to meet the net income test and face a separate gross income threshold of 165 percent of poverty.

College students enrolled at least half-time face extra restrictions. They generally cannot receive SNAP unless they meet a specific exemption, such as working at least 20 hours per week, participating in a federal or state work-study program, caring for a young child, or receiving benefits through another assistance program. Class time and homework do not count toward the work threshold.

Work Requirements and the ABAWD Time Limit

SNAP has two layers of work rules. Most adults from 16 to 59 must register for employment and accept suitable job offers to stay eligible.⁸ The stricter rule is the time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents. Under the ABAWD rule, adults without dependents who are not disabled can only receive SNAP for three months out of every three-year period unless they work or participate in a qualifying training program for at least 80 hours a month.⁹

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 sharply expanded who falls under that time limit. It removed exemptions that previously protected people experiencing homelessness, veterans, adults aged 55 to 64, parents of children over 13, and young adults who aged out of foster care. It added a new exemption for individuals covered under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. And it restricted state waivers of the ABAWD time limit to areas where the unemployment rate exceeds 10 percent.¹⁰

The practical effect is that the ABAWD time limit now reaches adults up to age 64, where it previously stopped at 54. Someone in their late fifties who is between jobs and does not have minor children at home will lose SNAP after three months unless they can document 80 hours a month of work or approved training. People 65 and older remain exempt.

Noncitizen Eligibility

The 2025 law also restricted noncitizen eligibility to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, Cuban-Haitian entrants, and residents under a Compact of Free Association. Other noncitizens who may have previously qualified are no longer eligible under the new rules. The USDA has noted that its SNAP eligibility page is being updated to reflect the law’s provisions, and anyone who applied or received benefits before 2025 should check with their state SNAP agency to confirm current status.¹¹

How Much Recipients Receive

Benefits are scaled to household size and reduced based on income, so most recipients receive less than the maximum. For fiscal year 2026 in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the maximum monthly allotments are:¹²

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

Alaska and Hawaii have higher allotments to reflect their higher food costs. In practice, the average SNAP household actually received $332 per month in fiscal year 2023, or about $177 per person given an average household size of 1.9.¹³

Benefit amounts are tied to the Thrifty Food Plan, the USDA’s estimate of what it costs to prepare a basic nutritious diet at home.¹⁴ The One Big Beautiful Bill Act froze the Thrifty Food Plan at its 2021 baseline and blocked reevaluation of the underlying food baskets until after October 2027, which will limit how quickly benefits keep pace with food prices in the near term.

1
Economic Research Service. Participation in SNAP Varies Across States, Reflecting Differences in Need and Program Policies
2
Food and Nutrition Service. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Data Tables
3
Congress.gov. Farm Bill Primer – SNAP and Nutrition Title Programs
4
Economic Research Service. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – Key Statistics and Research
5
Food and Nutrition Service. Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility
6
Food and Nutrition Service. Reaching Those in Need – Estimates of State SNAP Participation Rates in 2022
7
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY2026 Income Eligibility Standards
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 2015 – Eligibility Disqualifications
9
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
10
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025
11
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
12
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY2026 Maximum Allotments and Deductions
13
Food and Nutrition Service. Characteristics of SNAP Households – Fiscal Year 2023
14
Food and Nutrition Service. USDA Food Plans