SNAP Benefits Calculator – What Monthly Food Benefit Could Your Household Get?

FY 2027 maximum allotments at a glance

The most a household can receive in the 48 contiguous states and District of Columbia, from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service FY 2027 cost-of-living adjustment, effective October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. You only receive the full maximum when net income is zero.

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Deep dive

Four worked cases on the FY 2027 federal tables

All figures in this section were read from the calculator’s own displayed results for the stated inputs, and all use the FY 2027 federal-standard tables for the 48 contiguous states and District of Columbia, effective October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, published by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, as the base guide states. The formula is the same in every case: benefit equals the maximum allotment for the household size minus 30 percent of net income, rounded down to the whole dollar, with net income reached by subtracting the 20 percent earned income deduction, the standard deduction, dependent care, any medical deduction above $35, and the excess shelter deduction, in order.

The default case is a household of 4 with $2,000 earned income and $1,200 shelter cost. Gross income is $2,000. Subtract 20 percent of earnings ($400) and the size-4 standard deduction ($229) to get adjusted income of $1,371. Half of adjusted income is $685.50, so the excess shelter deduction is $1,200 − $685.50 = $514.50, which is under the $769 cap. Net income is $1,371 − $514.50 = $856.50. The benefit is $1,023 − 30% × $856.50 = $1,023 − $256.95 = $766.05, rounded down to $766. The income tests pass: the gross limit for a household of 4 is $3,575 and the net limit is $2,750, and $2,000 and $856.50 are both below them.

The senior case uses the page’s own preset shape: a household of 1 with no earned income, $1,400 unearned income, $1,000 shelter cost, $200 medical expenses, and a member 60 or older. Gross income is $1,400. The standard deduction for size 1 is $217, and the medical deduction is $200 − $35 = $165, giving adjusted income of $1,018. Half of adjusted income is $509, so the excess shelter deduction is $1,000 − $509 = $491 — and because the household has a member 60 or older, there is no shelter cap to bind, though $491 is below the $769 cap in any case. Net income is $1,018 − $491 = $527. The maximum allotment for size 1 is $306, so the benefit is $306 − 30% × $527 = $306 − $158.10 = $147.90, rounded down to $147. Note the display quirk documented in the questions below: the breakdown row labels the maximum allotment “household of 4” even when another size is selected, while the amount itself follows the selected size — here $306, the size-1 maximum.

The capped-shelter case is a household of 4 with $3,000 earned income and $2,500 shelter cost. The 20 percent earned deduction is $600 and the standard deduction is $229, giving adjusted income of $2,171. Half of adjusted income is $1,085.50, so the uncapped excess shelter would be $2,500 − $1,085.50 = $1,414.50 — but the FY 2027 shelter cap for a household without a member 60 or older or disabled is $769, so the deduction is $769, not $1,414.50. Net income is $2,171 − $769 = $1,402, and the benefit is $1,023 − 30% × $1,402 = $1,023 − $420.60 = $602.40, rounded down to $602. The $645.50 of shelter cost above the cap buys no benefit at all, which is why the cap case is the most important one to understand before entering a high rent. The fourth case is the floor: a household of 8 with no income and no shelter cost receives the full size-8 maximum of $1,841, because adjusted income is −$308 (the $308 standard deduction with no income) and net income is floored at $0.00, so 30 percent of nothing is subtracted from the maximum.

The FY 2027 tables the calculator uses

The calculator uses one set of tables, and this section reproduces them exactly as the page publishes them, so you can check any result by hand. The maximum allotments for the 48 contiguous states and District of Columbia in FY 2027 are: size 1, $306; size 2, $562; size 3, $808; size 4, $1,023; size 5, $1,217; size 6, $1,463; size 7, $1,616; size 8, $1,841. Each additional person from 9 to 17 adds $225, and households of 18 or more are capped at $3,887 in total. You only receive the full maximum when net income is zero, as the base guide states — the zero-income size-8 case above is the proof — and every dollar of net income reduces the benefit by 30 cents. The standard deductions for FY 2027 are $217 for sizes 1 to 3, $229 for size 4, $268 for size 5, and $308 for size 6 and up. The shelter deduction cap is $769 per month, except for households with a member 60 or older or disabled, where there is no cap.

The income-test limits in that table are the calculator’s own displayed figures for the stated sizes: size 1 limits of $1,729 gross and $1,330 net, size 4 limits of $3,575 and $2,750, and size 8 limits of $6,037 and $4,644, all for FY 2027 under the federal standard. Under that standard, gross monthly income must be at or below 130 percent of the poverty level for the household size, and net monthly income must be at or below 100 percent. Households with a member 60 or older or disabled skip the gross test and face only the net test, which is why the senior case above is described as eligible on both tests even though its gross income of $1,400 would in any case pass the size-1 gross limit of $1,729. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands have higher maximums, and this calculator uses the 48-state table only — if your household is in one of those places, do not use this page’s maximums, and check your state agency’s tables instead.

Two rounding rules complete the picture, and both are stated on the page. The benefit is rounded down to the whole dollar, as in the federal calculation: $766.05 becomes $766, $147.90 becomes $147, and $602.40 becomes $602, never up. And a 1 or 2 person household whose computed benefit is between $1 and $24 is raised to the $25 minimum benefit for FY 2027 in the 48 states and District of Columbia; if the formula gives zero or less, the benefit is zero, and households of 3 or more have no minimum benefit rule. The minimum is why a small positive benefit for a single adult never displays as, say, $7: the formula’s answer is replaced by $25, which is the only rounding on the page that ever moves a figure upward.

Why deductions are the biggest lever, and which ones you can claim

Every dollar of deduction is worth 30 cents of monthly benefit, because the benefit falls by only 30 percent of net income. The base guide gives the two canonical examples: a $200 childcare cost that is claimed is worth $60 a month, and a shelter deduction that hits the $769 cap is worth up to $230.70 a month. Claiming every deduction you qualify for is the single biggest lever on the result, and missing one is the most expensive common mistake on this page — not because the formula is complicated, but because the inputs are easy to understate. Dependent care counts only when you pay it so a household member can work or train; shelter cost is rent or mortgage plus your utility allowance, if your state gives you one; and the household itself is everyone who buys and prepares food together, which is the definition the size input uses.

The medical deduction is the narrowest of the deductions, and it is the one most often mis-entered. Only households with a member who is 60 or older or disabled can claim it, and only the part of monthly out-of-pocket medical expenses above $35 counts: a household with $200 of qualifying medical costs deducts $165, as the base guide states and as the senior case above shows. A younger, non-disabled household deducts zero medical costs even if its bills are large, and the page enforces that rule itself: entering $200 of medical expenses on the default case with the 60-or-older-or-disabled box unchecked leaves the medical deduction at $0.00 and the benefit unchanged at $766, exactly as probed. If your medical deduction seems to have no effect, check the box first — and check that the household member genuinely qualifies — before concluding the calculator is wrong.

The shelter deduction has its own trap, which the capped case above demonstrates. The deduction is your shelter cost minus half of adjusted income, and it is zero if your shelter cost is below half of adjusted income — a household whose rent is modest relative to its income gets no shelter deduction at all, and no benefit from a small rent increase. Above half of adjusted income, each extra dollar of shelter cost adds a dollar of deduction, worth 30 cents of benefit, until the $769 cap, after which extra shelter cost buys nothing. For households with a member 60 or older or disabled there is no cap, so the same dollar keeps paying 30 cents all the way up. When you are deciding whether to report a utility allowance or a rent change, the question is always which side of the cap you are on: below it, the shelter figure matters dollar for dollar; above it, only the cap matters.

Why your state result can differ, and what this page does not decide

States run SNAP under federal rules but with state choices, and the base guide names the main ones: many states use broad-based categorical eligibility, which can raise or remove the gross income test and change the asset limit, and utility allowances, dependent care rules, and verification practices also vary. Treat this page as the federal-standard estimate, and treat your state agency determination as final. If this estimate and your agency notice disagree, the agency notice governs, and you can ask the agency to explain the difference. That sentence is not boilerplate: a household that fails the federal gross test on this page may still qualify in a broad-based categorical eligibility state, and a household that passes here may still be asked for verification or asset information the page never requests, because the page does not ask about assets at all.

What counts as income, and what does not, is the other place where the page trusts you. Gross income is nearly all cash income before deductions: wages, self-employment profit, Social Security, pensions, unemployment benefits, and cash assistance. Some income is excluded by law, such as most student aid, energy assistance, and in-kind benefits. This calculator trusts the income figures you enter, so leave out anything your state agency would exclude, and check the exclusion list on your state agency site if you are unsure. Entering gross income that includes an excluded item understates the benefit; entering income that your state would count but you left out overstates it. The page cannot audit your income composition — only your agency can — so the accuracy of the estimate is bounded by the accuracy of the figures you type.

Finally, this page is an estimate, not an official eligibility decision, and it says so in its own closing note: it uses the federal FY 2027 SNAP tables for the 48 contiguous states and District of Columbia, effective October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, published by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, and many states apply broad-based categorical eligibility, different utility allowances, and different asset limits, while Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands use higher allotments. Your state agency verifies income and expenses and makes the only official decision. Use this page to understand the math before you apply, to check that you have claimed every deduction you qualify for, and to see how a change in income, shelter, or household size would move the benefit — and then apply through your state agency, which is the only route to an actual benefit.

A pre-application checklist, in the calculator’s own order

Before you apply, gather the figures in the same order the calculator asks for them, and check each one against a document rather than memory. Household size: everyone who buys and prepares food together, counted once, with no one left out and no one double-counted across two households. Earned income: wages and self-employment income, monthly, before tax, from pay stubs or your own records. Unearned income: Social Security, pensions, unemployment, and similar income, with no 20 percent deduction applying to it. Shelter cost: rent or mortgage plus your utility allowance, if your state gives you one, from the lease or mortgage statement and the allowance letter. Dependent care: childcare or adult dependent care you pay so a household member can work or train, from receipts. Medical expenses: monthly out-of-pocket costs, remembering that only the part above $35 counts, and only for a household with a member 60 or older or disabled. And the 60-or-older-or-disabled question itself, because it changes three rules at once: it removes the shelter cap, allows the medical deduction, and removes the gross income test.

Then run the calculator twice: once with the figures as you understand them, and once with the figures as your documents state them, and reconcile any difference before applying. The most common reconciliation items are the utility allowance, which is easy to forget and changes the shelter deduction dollar for dollar below the cap; dependent care that was paid but not claimed, worth 30 cents of benefit per dollar; and medical expenses below the $35 threshold, which correctly contribute nothing and should not be forced into the calculation. If the two runs disagree, trust the documented run, and bring the documents to the agency: the agency verifies income and expenses, and a verified figure beats a remembered one every time. And remember the rounding: the benefit is rounded down to the whole dollar, the 1 or 2 person minimum is $25, and the agency notice, not this page, is the final determination.

Outside the 48 states: Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands

The federal tables on this page describe the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands use separate, higher tables, because the Thrifty Food Plan costs more there. For fiscal year 2027, Hawaii’s maximum allotment for a household of four is $1,655 a month — lower than its $1,689 in fiscal 2026, the only state-level maximum that fell — while Alaska’s urban four-person maximum is $1,306, with higher rural amounts. Hawaii’s excess shelter deduction cap for fiscal 2027 is $1,036, against $769 in the 48 states, and its standard deductions are $306 for households of one to four, $309 for five, and $354 for six or more.

If you live in one of these places, do not apply the 48-state figures: use the USDA’s separate FY 2027 tables for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, and your state agency’s notices, which apply them. The calculator’s state adjustment handles the broad difference, but the authoritative figures for an individual case are always the state agency’s. Note also that Hawaii has no asset test under its broad-based categorical eligibility rules, while the federal asset limits ($3,000, or $4,750 for households with an elderly or disabled member) apply elsewhere subject to state variations.

Work rules and time limits: what to ask your state agency

SNAP carries work-related rules that this page’s arithmetic does not decide. Most adults aged 16 to 59 must register for work, accept suitable work, and meet employment and training requirements set by their state. Adults without dependents (ABAWDs) face a time limit on benefits — generally three months in a three-year period without meeting a work requirement of 80 hours a month — subject to exemptions and to state waivers for areas with high unemployment. The rules, exemptions, and waiver areas changed under 2025 legislation, and states apply them differently, so the details that matter for an individual case must come from the state agency, not from a calculator.

Do not let uncertainty about work rules stop an application. Apply, report your circumstances accurately, and let the agency determine exemptions — including exemptions for pregnancy, medical unfitness, caring responsibilities, and participation in qualifying programs. A benefit estimate from this page is not an eligibility decision, and a work-rule question is not a reason to delay applying: benefits, when approved, are generally dated from the application date.

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