The market basket costs in the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021 apply to the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. By law, the USDA must make cost adjustments to the Thrifty Food Plan to reflect the cost of food in Alaska and Hawaii. Prior to the update published in 2023, these cost adjustments were last calculated in the early 1980s and were updated for food inflation through June 2021. Temporary cost adjustments for Alaska and Hawaii were implemented alongside the 2021 Thrifty Food Plan reevaluation while new, comprehensive analyses of food prices in Alaska and Hawaii were conducted.
The Thrifty Food Plan Cost Estimates for Alaska and Hawaii report (below) provides updated estimates of the June 2022 cost of the reevaluated Thrifty Food Plan in Alaska and Hawaii. Information on FNS implementation of the updated Thrifty Food Plan cost estimates in Alaska and Hawaii can be found, beginning with fiscal year 2024, in the annual memo from FNS providing cost-of-living adjustments to SNAP maximum allotments, income eligibility standards, and deductions.
The Thrifty Food Plan Cost Estimates for Alaska and Hawaii report underwent formal, comprehensive, and independent peer review. A summary of the feedback provided by the peer reviewers and how their comments were incorporated into the final version of the report is available for review. The report is also accompanied by an online supplement, which contains detailed information on the food prices used to calculate the updated Thrifty Food Plan cost estimates for Alaska and Hawaii and enables users to reproduce the results of the analysis.