Tens of millions of Americans are about to see their federal benefits go up.
Cost-of-living increases for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - government-run food benefits for low-income households - are kicking in Thursday, according to the Department of Agriculture.
“The maximum allotments will increase for the 48 States and D.C., Alaska, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” USDA said.
Most of the program’s 42 million participants will see their benefits rise anywhere from $8 to $52 per month, depending on family size. SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, can be used for groceries including fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry and fish, breads and cereals, and snacks.
However, recipients in Hawaii will see their benefits fall by $34 per month for a family of four. Hawaii’s human services department says that’s because grocery costs used for USDA benefit calculations went down.
Under the Trump administration, SNAP recipients have faced delayed payments and the threat of cuts. During the October 2025 government shutdown, millions saw their payments temporarily delayed.
Five months later, the Trump administration removed 4.3 million people from the program, alleging fraud, improving economic conditions and new eligibility requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Around 5 million people lost SNAP benefits between June 2025 and June 2026, according to nonpartisan think-tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
“SNAP participation has dropped in every state except Alaska, including by 5 percent or more in 48 states, by 10 percent or more in 24 states, and close to 20 percent or more in 5 states,” the center wrote, citing USDA data.
At least 776,000 children have lost SNAP benefits because of the cuts, according to a July report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and George Washington University. Those who lose SNAP benefits are more at risk for developing chronic diseases, the researchers also found.
The new SNAP payment increases can’t come fast enough for America’s low-income households.
Low-income and middle-class households are feeling rising inflation’s impacts more severely than upper-class families, the Federal Reserve reported in May.
“Lower- and middle-income households generally have experienced higher effective inflation rates, with a greater share of their spending allocated to goods that have seen prices soar since the pandemic, such as housing, groceries, and utilities, causing them to cut back on groceries,” the Fed wrote.
