The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service makes an adjustment to SNAP benefits maximum allotments, deductions, and income eligibility standards at the beginning of each federal fiscal year based on the cost of living, or COLA adjustments, which is the amount of money needed to maintain a basic standard of living.
For fiscal year 2024, FNS increased the maximum allocations and housing caps for a large portion of the states and territories of the United States, SNAP allocations became effective October 1, 2023, and will be valid until September 30th.
Maximum awards for the 48 states and the District of Columbia, Alaska, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands increased, while the amount was reduced for SNAP recipients in Hawaii from $1,794 to $1,759 for a family of four, for a family of four in the lower 48 states, the COLA is reflected in a benefit increase of $34 per month.
The following list shows the maximum SNAP allocations in the lower 48 states and DC, October 2023 to September 2024, according to the USDA website:
- Household size 1: $291
- Household size 2: $535
- Household size 3: $766
- Household size 4: $973
- Household size 5: $1,155
- Household size 6: $1,386
- Household size 7: $1,532
- Household size 8: $1,751
- Each additional person: $219
Benefits are typically highest for households in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; for a family of four, the highest benefits in Alaska could be up to $1,937, income eligibility standards for month changed for the lower 48 states and DC, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands, here is the maximum monthly gross income limit, which is 130% of the federal poverty level, for the contiguous 48 states from the United States, plus DC:
- Household size 1: $1,580
- Household size 2: $2,137
- Household size 3: $2,694
- Household size 4: $3,250
- Household size 5: $3,807
- Household size 6: $4,364
- Household size 7: $4,921
- Household size 8: $5,478
- Each additional person: $557
A monthly payment of $973 for a family of four minimizes to about $8 per day per person, SNAP was never intended to cover all food costs, but the Urban Institute made a discovery that a modestly priced meal was around $3 .14 in the last quarter of 2022, 15% higher than the maximum SNAP benefit, the report also indicated that SNAP benefits did not cover the cost of a meal in 99% of counties the previous year.
What is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program?
The SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, helps low-income people buy nutritious foods. Although SNAP is a federal program, it is administered by state agencies, through local offices, possibly you rate
to be part of the SNAP program if you meet certain requirements related to your income and financial resources.
Do you qualify for the SNAP program?
To be a participant in the SNAP benefits program, the composition of your household must meet certain specific requirements. The definition of household includes all people who live under the same roof as you and who purchase and prepare the food in the same home, if you do not have a permanent residence, there is a possibility that you can participate in the SNAP program, even if you do not have a fixed address, nor where to sleep, nor where to prepare your meals.
You are generally considered not to have a permanent residence if you do not have a fixed place to spend the night or the place where you spend the night is a temporary room in, a supervised shelter, a halfway house, the residence from another person, a place that is not recognized as a resting place, such as a hallway, a buses or the lobby of a building.