The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition assistance to eligible individuals and households in need. SNAP is the largest of the domestic nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Using SNAP household data collected for quality control (QC) purposes, FNS publishes reports detailing characteristics of the SNAP population and uses the data for additional analyses. This report, the latest in an annual series that began in 1976, presents a picture of the demographic and economic circumstances of households and individuals who participated in SNAP in fiscal year (FY) 2022 (Oct. 2021 through Sept. 2022).
This is the first report since FY 2020. There is no report for FY 2021 because data were incomplete due to COVID-19 pandemic-related administrative waivers in place through most of the year. Emergency allotments were in place for 45 states and territories at the start of FY 2022 and 36 states by the end of FY 2022. However, emergency allotments were not reported in the SNAP QC data, so the benefit amounts discussed in this report do not include them, unless otherwise specified.
Key Findings
- Four-in-five (79 percent) SNAP households included either a child, an elderly individual, or a nonelderly individual with a disability.
- The average SNAP household received a monthly benefit of $297.
- Most SNAP households (75 percent) lived at or below the poverty level.
- When added to households’ gross incomes, SNAP benefits and emergency allotments raised 30 percent of SNAP households above the poverty level.
- Social Security benefits were the most common source of income among SNAP households.