Mapping Impact: SNAP Participation Data
The Congressional District Health Dashboard has added a new SNAP Participation metric to provide congressional staff, food policy advocates, and other stakeholders with timely data to support efforts to strengthen the nation’s nutrition safety net. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the primary tools the federal government uses to address food insecurity in the United States. As such, it is a frequent focus of federal policy conversations and changes. This blog explains the SNAP program, introduces the Dashboard’s new SNAP Participation metric, and suggests ways to use the new metric.
SNAP Program Overview
Then and Now
SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program) was established in 1964 during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. The program originally aimed to strengthen the agricultural economy and improve nutrition among low-income households. By April 1965, over 500,000 people had enrolled in the program in a limited number of states where the program first rolled out.1
Today the nationwide program continues to help low-income households afford a nutritionally adequate low-cost diet.2 The program’s reach has significantly increased since its inception, due to expansion of the program to all states, population growth, and changes in economic conditions. In 2025, the program supported approximately 42 million Americans every month.3
Eligibility, Benefits, and Program Efficiency
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers SNAP in partnership with state agencies. While household eligibility criteria vary by state and other factors (such as the presence of an elderly or disabled household member), they generally include financial requirements like maximum income limits, as well as nonfinancial rules like work requirements.2
If a household is deemed SNAP-eligible, a monthly SNAP benefit allotment is calculated by household size, net monthly income, and the benefit amount allowed in that fiscal year.2 The latter is tied to the cost of a nutritionally adequate, low-cost diet, as measured by the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan.4 Electronic benefits transfer (EBT) systems issue debit cards with which recipients can use SNAP benefits to purchase food. This allows for individual choice and flexibility in using SNAP to support dietary needs.
Most SNAP funding goes towards helping households purchase food, and the program itself runs with low administrative costs. The federal government completely finances benefits, while state and the federal government split administrative costs; however, recent federal legislation will shift more of these costs to states beginning in October 2027.5 In the 2024 federal fiscal year, the federal government spent $100.3 billion on SNAP; 93% ($93.7 billion) was spent on benefits themselves.2 While food banks and other charitable food programs are vital components of the food safety net, they do not operate at the same scale as SNAP; for every meal that food banks provide, SNAP can provide nine.6 Food banks thus play a complementary role: they can feed people who are hungry but don’t qualify for SNAP, undocumented people, or other people facing SNAP enrollment barriers.
Health Implications
Research indicates that individuals receiving SNAP benefits experience lower rates of food insecurity than people who are eligible but not receiving benefits.7,8 Food insecurity is associated with worse health outcomes, including mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, as well as chronic health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.9,10 Food insecurity also complicates an individual’s ability to manage illness and is linked to higher healthcare costs.7
Who Benefits from SNAP?
According to Congressional District Health Dashboard data, in 2025 Q3 just over one in six households across the country participated in SNAP. Of the 42 million Americans receiving SNAP each month, 70% are elderly, disabled, or children.6 Over 75% of all SNAP participants are also enrolled in Medicaid, including nearly 90% of child SNAP participants, demonstrating how eligibility and need overlap across the two programs.11 The SNAP program is considered an economic stimulus that supports grocery store jobs and provides income to local farmers; every dollar distributed generates an estimated $1.50 -$1.80 in economic activity.6
Meet the Metric
The SNAP Participation metric on the Dashboard captures the percentage of households in a population that participated in SNAP in the past quarter.
Survey respondents tend to underreport participation in programs like SNAP, potentially due to social stigma, with one study estimating that over a third of SNAP households responding to the American Community Survey (ACS) did not report their receipt of program benefits.12 To help correct for this underestimation, our data team supplement the ACS survey data with administrative program data from the USDA FNS. This approach brings the estimates we report on the Dashboard more in line with the SNAP enrollment data reported directly by states. To learn more about our data sources, how we calculate the metric and strengths and limitations of the metric, check out our metric background.
Key SNAP Data Takeaways
The ability to measure SNAP participation allows us to more deeply understand food insecurity and approaches to addressing it. We hope this blog has helped clarify how the SNAP program works, the multifaceted support SNAP provides, and the utility of SNAP participation data.
Key takeaways:
SNAP is an important program in the federal nutrition safety net.
Over one in six households participated in SNAP in 2025 Q3.
SNAP Participation data can be useful to look at in tandem with other metrics, such as Medicaid Enrollment, Children in Poverty, Obesity, Diabetes, Racial and Ethnic Segregation, among others.
Explore SNAP Participation in your district here!
Register now for our upcoming Virtual Office Hours focused on the new SNAP Participation metric on Tuesday May 19th at 4pm EST.
References
A Short History of SNAP. U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. Updated August 29, 2025. https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/history
Aussenberg RA, Falk G. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): A Primer on Eligibility and Benefits. 2025. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R42505
SNAP Data Tables. U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. Updated February 24, 2026. https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap
The Thrifty Food Plan: What It Is and Why It Matters. Food and Nutrition Service Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Agriculture. August 12, 2021. https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/thrifty-food-plan-what-it-and-why-it-matters
Kallins L, Thompson A. How States Are Responding to New SNAP Requirements. National Conference of State Legislatures. March 10, 2026. https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/how-states-are-responding-to-new-snap-requirements
Explainer: Understanding the SNAP program—and what cuts to these benefits may mean. Harvard Kennedy School. November 10, 2025. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/social-policy/explainer-understanding-snap-program-and-what-cuts
Carlson S, Llobrera J. SNAP Is Linked With Improved Health Outcomes and Lower Health Care Costs. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. December 14, 2022. https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/snap-is-linked-with-improved-health-outcomes-and-lower-health-care-costs
Mabli J, Ohls J, Dragoset L, Castner L, Santos B. Measuring the Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation on Food Security. 2013. https://www.fns.usda.gov/research/snap/measuring-effect-snap-food-security
Cain KS, Meyer SC, Cummer E, et al. Association of Food Insecurity with Mental Health Outcomes in Parents and Children. Acad Pediatr. Sep-Oct 2022;22(7):1105-1114. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2022.04.010
Gregory CA, Coleman-Jensen A. Food Insecurity, Chronic Disease, and Health Among Working-Age Adults. 2017. https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=84466
Winger A, Ochieng N, Pillai A, et al. The Implications of Federal SNAP Spending Cuts on Individuals with Medicaid, Medicare and Other Health Coverage. Kaiser Family Foundation. June 26, 2025. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/the-implications-of-federal-snap-spending-cuts-on-individuals-with-medicaid-and-other-health-coverage/
Meyer BD, Mittag N, Goerge RM. Errors in Survey Reporting and Imputation and their Effects on Estimates of Food Stamp Program Participation. Journal of Human Resources. 2020:JHRv58n01_MeyerMittagGeorge. doi:10.3368/jhr.58.1.0818-9704R2
