Characteristics of SNAP Households: Fiscal Year 2023

SNAP supports children, the elderly, and individuals with a disability.

• In FY 2023, four in five (79%) SNAP households included either a child, an elderly individual, or a nonelderly individual with a disability. These households contained 88% of all SNAP participants and received 83% of all SNAP benefits. See figure below.
• About 39% of SNAP participants were children, 20% were elderly, and 10% were nonelderly individuals with a disability.

SNAP supports households in poverty.

• Most SNAP households lived in poverty. Seventy-three percent had a gross monthly income at or below 100% of the poverty level.
• Most SNAP benefits go to the poorest households. 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. In contrast, 27% of households with a gross monthly income above the poverty level received 14% of all benefits.
• When added to households’ gross incomes, SNAP benefits raised the incomes of 17% of SNAP households above the poverty level. Pandemic-related supplemental benefits, known as emergency allotments, raised the incomes of an additional 13% of households above the poverty level. When including both SNAP benefits and emergency allotments, the percentage of SNAP households living above the poverty level increased from 27% to 57%. 

The average SNAP benefit varied by household.

• 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.

SNAP households had different sources of income.

• Social Security was the most common source of income among SNAP households. Thirty-three percent of SNAP households received Social Security benefits (an average of $1,096 monthly).  
• Earnings from work and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) were the next most common sources of income. Twenty-eight percent of households had earnings (an average of $1,548 monthly) and 23% of households received SSI benefits (an average of $723 monthly).
• General Assistance (GA) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits were less common sources of income. About 4% of SNAP households received GA (an average of $380 monthly) and 3% received TANF benefits (an average of $573 monthly).