This report—part of an annual series—presents estimates of the percentage of eligible persons, by state, who participated in the USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during an average month in fiscal year (FY) 2020 and in the two previous fiscal years. SNAP eligibility criteria include maximum income and resource thresholds, as well as certain nonfinancial criteria, such as age and disability status.
Because the Coronavirus COVID-19 public health emergency affected data collection starting in March 2020, this summary covers only the pre-pandemic period of October 2019 through February 2020. Thus, this report presents rates only for all eligible persons during the pre-pandemic months of FY 2020. FNS estimates that 78 percent of eligible people received SNAP benefits in pre-pandemic FY 2020.
Key Findings
- Illinois, Oregon, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are all estimated to have 100 percent SNAP participation rates.
- The USDA FNS Mid- Atlantic, Midwest and Northeast Regions had the highest overall SNAP regional participation rates.
- Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington had significantly higher participation rates than two-thirds of other states.