Who Is Eligible for an EBT Card: Income, Work, and Household Rules

Eligibility for an EBT card comes down to five tests: your household’s gross and net income, your countable assets, your citizenship or immigration status, your state residency, and, for most working-age adults, a work requirement. For the federal fiscal year running October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, a single-person household in the 48 contiguous states qualifies with gross monthly income under $1,696 and net income under $1,305, with higher limits at each household size above that.¹

Income Limits by Household Size

SNAP uses two income measures. Gross income is everything your household earns before deductions: wages, self-employment income, Social Security, and most other sources. Net income is what’s left after federally allowed deductions. Most households have to pass both tests. Households that include a member who is 60 or older or has a disability only have to pass the net test.

The gross limit is set at 130 percent of the federal poverty level and the net limit at 100 percent. Monthly figures for the 48 contiguous states and D.C.:

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

Alaska and Hawaii use higher limits.¹ A majority of states also use a policy called Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, which can push the gross income limit up to 200 percent of the poverty level for households that qualify for certain other low-income programs. If your gross income sits between 130 and 200 percent of poverty, ask your local SNAP office whether your state applies the expanded limit.

Deductions That Lower Your Countable Income

Because the net test controls final eligibility for many households, the deductions matter. You may be over the gross limit and still qualify once these come off:

A standard deduction of $209 per month for households of one to three, $223 for four, $261 for five, and $299 for six or more.²
An earned income deduction equal to 20 percent of gross earnings from work or self-employment.³
Out-of-pocket dependent care costs that let a household member work or attend training.
Legally required child support paid to someone outside the household.
An excess shelter deduction for rent, mortgage, taxes, utilities, and insurance above half of your income after other deductions. It’s capped at $744 per month, but households with a member age 60 or older or with a disability have no cap.²
For members age 60 or older or with a disability only: medical costs above $35 per month, including prescriptions, insurance premiums, equipment, and transportation to appointments.³

Asset Limits

Your household’s countable resources — cash on hand and money in bank accounts, mainly — must fall below $3,000, or $4,500 if the household includes someone 60 or older or with a disability.² Your home and the land it sits on don’t count. Most states exclude at least one vehicle in full; the federal baseline only counts vehicle value above $4,500.

States that use Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility often raise or waive the asset test entirely, so modest savings won’t necessarily disqualify a family facing a rough stretch. Whether that applies to you depends on state policy.

Who Counts in Your Household

SNAP defines a household as people who live together and regularly buy and prepare meals together. If you live alone, or share a kitchen with roommates but shop and cook separately, you’re your own household.⁴

Some people have to be counted together whether they share meals or not. Spouses are always one household. A child under 22 who lives with a parent or stepparent is included in that parent’s household. A child under 18 who lives with and depends on another adult in the home (other than a foster parent) is also included.⁴ These rules stop families from splitting into smaller units to slip under lower income limits.

Foster children are treated as boarders. The foster family can choose to include a foster child in its SNAP household or leave them out; if included, the child’s income and resources are counted. Foster children can’t apply on their own.⁴

Citizenship, Immigration Status, and Residency

You have to live in the state where you apply. Proof of residency usually comes from documents you already have to submit — a lease, utility bill, or mortgage statement. No state can require you to have lived there for a minimum period first.⁵ If you don’t have a fixed address, you can use a shelter, an authorized representative, or the local SNAP office as your mailing address.⁶

U.S. citizens meet the citizenship test automatically once identity and residency are verified. Lawful permanent residents age 18 or older generally have to hold that status for five years before they can qualify. Refugees and people granted asylum are not subject to that five-year wait.⁷

In a mixed household, eligible members can still receive benefits. The ineligible member is left out when the state figures household size for the income limits, standard deduction, and benefit amount, but the state may count all or part of that person’s income toward the household total.⁸ U.S.-born children in a household can qualify for SNAP even when their parents don’t meet immigration requirements.

Work Requirements

Most adults on SNAP have to register for work, take part in job-search activities if the state assigns them, and accept a suitable job if offered. These general rules apply to household members ages 16 through 59 who aren’t otherwise exempt. Quitting a job or cutting your hours without a valid reason can cost you at least one month of benefits for a first occurrence, three months for a second, and six months or more for a third.⁹

The ABAWD Time Limit

A stricter rule applies to Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, or ABAWDs. If you’re between 18 and 54, physically and mentally able to work, and have no dependents, you have to work or take part in a qualifying training program at least 80 hours per month. If you don’t, your benefits cap out at three months within any 36-month window.¹⁰ To get back on after being cut off, you either meet the 80-hour requirement for a full 30-day stretch or wait for the 36-month window to reset.

Who’s Exempt

You’re exempt from both the general work rules and the ABAWD time limit if you’re:

A parent or household member caring for a child under six or an incapacitated person
Physically or mentally unable to work
Pregnant
Age 60 or older, or under 16 (16- and 17-year-olds also qualify if enrolled in school at least half-time)

Federal regulations also recognize “good cause” for leaving a job, including illness, a household emergency, no transportation, no childcare for a child ages six through 11, discrimination by the employer, and unsafe or unreasonable working conditions such as not being paid on time.⁹

College Students

If you’re enrolled at least half-time in a college, university, or vocational program that requires a high school diploma to enter, you’re generally not eligible for SNAP unless you fit an exception. The common ones:

You work at least 20 hours per week (or average 20 hours over a month, quarter, or semester, depending on your state)
You take part in a state- or federally financed work-study program
You care for a household dependent under age six

Other exceptions exist in federal regulations.¹¹

Easier Rules for Age 60+ and Disabled Households

A household that includes someone 60 or older or with a qualifying disability skips the gross income test entirely — only the net income limit applies.¹² The asset limit rises to $4,500. Out-of-pocket medical expenses above $35 per month become deductible for the qualifying member. And the shelter deduction has no dollar cap.³ Households that look over the limit on paper often qualify once these rules are applied.

How to Apply Once You Think You Qualify

You apply through your state’s social services agency, online, in person, or by mailing a paper form. You’ll need:

A photo ID for the primary applicant
Social Security numbers for every household member
Pay stubs from the last 30 days, benefit letters, or self-employment records
Proof of where you live (lease, utility bill, or similar)
Bank statements or financial records, in states that still apply the asset test

An eligibility interview has to happen within 30 days of your application.¹ Many states run it by phone, and you can ask for a face-to-face interview if you’d rather.

Expedited Benefits if You Can’t Wait

If your household has less than $150 in monthly gross income and less than $100 in liquid resources, or if your combined gross income and liquid resources come to less than your monthly rent or mortgage plus utilities, you qualify for expedited processing. Benefits arrive within seven days instead of the standard 30.¹ You still have to do the interview, and the agency can issue temporary benefits based on what it has while you gather the rest of your documents.

1
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
2
USDA Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustments
3
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.9 – Income and Deductions
4
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.1 – Household Concept
5
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.2 – Office Operations and Application Processing
6
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Clarification of Policies Barriers Facing Homeless Youth
7
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.4 – Citizenship and Alien Status
8
GovInfo. 7 CFR 273.11 – Action on Households With Special Circumstances
9
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.7 – Work Provisions
10
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
11
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.5 – Students
12
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Special Rules for the Elderly or Disabled