There are strict guidlines in place that determine who qualifies for SNAP. If someone is receiving SNAP, it means they have met those guidlines.
These are the people who receive SNAP:
In FY 2023, four in five (79%) SNAP households included either a child (39%), an elderly individual (20%), or a nonelderly individual with a disability (10). These households contained 88% of all SNAP participants and received 83% of all SNAP benefits.
Most SNAP benefits go to the poorest households.
- Most SNAP households lived in poverty. Seventy-three percent had a gross monthly income at or below 100% of the poverty level.
- Eighty-six percent of all SNAP benefits go to households with gross monthly income at or below the poverty level and 51% of benefits go to those with gross monthly income at or below 50% of the poverty level.
- The average SNAP household received a monthly benefit of $332. That’s $177 per person based on the average SNAP household size of 1.9 people.
- Households with children received a larger average monthly benefit of $574 due to the larger average household size of 3.3 people. The average benefit per person for these households was $174.
Households that have income and/or assets have to meet the following requirements:
Gross monthly income — that is, household income before any of the program’s deductions are applied — generally must be at or below 130 percent of the poverty line. For a family of three, the poverty line used to calculate SNAP benefits in federal fiscal year 2026 is $2,221 a month. Thus, 130 percent of the poverty line for a three-person family is $2,888 a month, or about $34,656 a year. The poverty level is higher for bigger families and lower for smaller families.
Net income, or household income after deductions are applied, must be at or below the poverty line.
Assets must fall below certain limits: households without a member who is aged 60 or older or has a disability must have assets of $3,000 or less; households with such a member must have assets of $4,500 or less.
I'm going to take the example of a family of three whose parent(s) work and have an income of $34,656 a year and then deduct expenses based on what the averages are in my area.
$2,888 per month Income.
$1,200 rent (Two bedroom home or apartment)
$ 689 Tax witholdings ($346 federal @ a 12% tax rate, $220 FICA, $123 State)
$ 150 Household expenses (Car maintenance, cleaning products, toiletries, clothing, school supplies, etc.)
$ 133 Electric
$ 88 Gas for home heating and cooking
$ 80 Gas for car
$ 81 Water/Sewer/Trash
$ 60 Phone
$ 58 Car insurance (One car, liability only with no points on driving record)
$ 30 Basic internet
$2,569 Total monthly expenses
This leaves $319 a month for food if everything runs smoothly for this family; meaning no emergencies, appliance/car breakdowns, etc.
$319 a month comes to just $10.63 a day for this family of three to eat on. That is less than half of what is needed to have a basic nutritious diet according to the
USDA Thrifty Food Plan which would require more than $700 a month.
Around 72% of eligible working-poor households receive SNAP benefits, so when you hear that 42 million people in the US receive SNAP, the actual number would be even higher if everyone eligible to receive them would apply for benefits.
As for the number of people receiving SNAP increasing, the numbers were higher between 2011 and 2017 than they are today. 2013 was the year with the highest number of people receiving SNAP, when an average of 47.6 million people received benefits every month.
