What is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, is a federal program to help low-income families and individuals to purchase food using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards in authorized stores.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which manages the program, sent benefits to over forty million individuals in twenty-two million households in March.

Who is eligible for SNAP benefits?

SNAP eligibility depends on household income. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees the program, but the actual distribution is done at the state level, and those entities approve SNAP applications.

The USDA has put together a tool that allows residents of all states and territories to find the agency tasked with distributing SNAP benefits. States are allowed to establish their own requirements.

Furthermore, there is an eligibility checker on the benefits.gov website. By submitting some of your information, you are able to assess online whether you would qualify for SNAP support.

How much could you receive through SNAP benefits?

According to USDA data, as of March 2023, SNAP paid, on average, $245.79 per person and $460.64 per household. For this year, it was announced that there was to be a rise in the maximum payment people could receive in SNAP benefits due to the inflation seen at the end of 2021. However, the war in Ukraine has pushed inflation even higher, and it is unlikely the previous benefits raised can match it.

For families of four people living in the 48 contiguous US states, including the District of Columbia, the maximum allocation for the year will be $939.

For families of four people living in Alaska, the maximum is between $1,172 and $1,819 in Alaska, while people in Hawaii can receive a maximum of $1,794

In two US dependencies, families in Guam can receive a maximum of $1,385, while those in the US Virgin Islands can receive up to $1,208.