Background

Program benefits are targeted to those most in need. To receive benefits, households must qualify based on their income, expenses, and assets. Households with lower income receive higher benefits up to a specified maximum. The maximum depends on household size and the cost the Thrifty Food Plan, a low-cost nutritious diet maintained and updated by USDA's Center for Nutrition and Policy Promotion. Most adults are required to work or take part in an employment and training program. Undocumented immigrants and some legal immigrants who have been in the US for less than 5 years are ineligible for program benefits.

At the Federal level, the program is administered by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Federal regulations define eligibility requirements, benefit levels, and administrative rules which, with a few exceptions, are nationally uniform. States, through local welfare offices, are responsible for day-to-day operations of the program and determine eligibility, calculate benefits, and issue benefits to participants according to Federal rules.

Additional information on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is available on the FNS website:

COVID-19 Working Paper: Obesity Prevalence Among U.S. Adult Subpopulations During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic The Food and Nutrition Assistance Landscape: Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report COVID-19 Working Paper: Consumer Food Spending Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic Household Food Security in the United States in 2021 Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2021

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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Online Purchasing Expanded in First Two Years of Pandemic Pandemic-Related Program Changes Continued to Shape the U.S. Food and Nutrition Assistance Landscape in Fiscal Year 2021 State SNAP Policies Unlikely to Close Participation Gap Between Seniors and Non-Seniors, Study Shows Data Linkages Shed Light on Older USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participants’ Health USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Contributed to Rural Economic Output, Jobs Following the Great Recession

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Purchase to Plate

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Food & Nutrition Assistance Food Assistance Data & Collaborative Research Programs Child Nutrition Programs Food Security in the U.S.

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