Characteristics of SNAP Households: Fiscal Year 2020
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Associated Project
Using Microsimulation in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Policy Analysis
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
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Key Findings
- During fiscal year 2020, SNAP provided benefits to approximately 39.9 million people living in 20.5 million households each month across the United States.
- The total Federal cost of the program in fiscal year 2020 was 79.3 billion, 74.2 billion of which went to SNAP benefits and the remainder to program administration.
- In fiscal year 2020, 81 percent of SNAP households contained children, elderly individuals, or individuals with a disability.
- Most SNAP households were living at or below the poverty line.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition assistance to eligible, low-income individuals and households in need. SNAP is the largest of the domestic nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This report describes the characteristics of SNAP households and participants nationwide in fiscal year 2020 (October 2019 through September 2020). It also presents an overview of SNAP eligibility requirements and benefit levels in fiscal year 2019. The appendices provide detailed tables of household and participant characteristics at the national and State levels, as well as a review of the source and reliability of estimates and the sampling error associated with the estimates presented in the report. Due to data limitations, the fiscal year 2020 file used for this report does not include samples for March, April, or May 2020, and includes incomplete samples for June 2020 through September 2020.
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