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3 guides

SNAP

How SNAP food benefits work: who qualifies, how amounts are figured, how to apply in your state, and the work rules that changed in 2025.
Check what you may qualify for
A printer lifts a freshly printed sheet of food stamps from the press in Washington, D.C.
The first food stamps come off the press, Washington, April 1939

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, helps households with low income buy food. It is run by each state under federal rules, so you apply with your state's SNAP agency, and the benefit comes on an EBT card you use at the store. Applying is free.

Your benefit depends on your household size and your income after certain deductions. SNAP expects a household to spend about 30% of its own money on food, and the benefit fills the gap up to a maximum for your household size. Our guide to SNAP eligibility and benefits has the current income limits and maximum amounts, and how SNAP works day to day covers using your card, what you can buy and keeping your benefits at renewal.

Two things are worth checking before you apply. The SNAP benefit calculator gives a quick estimate. And the 2025 law changed the work rules, so the 3-month time limit checker shows whether they may apply to you. If you have young children, see the difference between SNAP and WIC, because you may qualify for both. Our free SNAP course walks through the whole process.

Guides

Everything on SNAP

From the archive

Where these programs began

Public-domain photographs from the history of these programs.
A printer lifts a freshly printed sheet of food stamps from the press in Washington, D.C.
The first food stamps come off the press, Washington, April 1939
Paper food coupons in 1, 5 and 10 dollar values beside an early EBT card
Paper food coupons and the EBT card that replaced them
A sheet of 25-cent food order stamps from 1939
A sheet of 25-cent food order stamps, 1939
Mrs. Botner, whose family took part in a Farm Security Administration program, at an electric wringer in 1941
An FSA program family's kitchen, Oregon, 1941