How many Walmart employees receive public assistance like SNAP?
Executive summary
Available reporting does not provide a nationwide, up‑to‑date headcount of Walmart employees receiving SNAP; the most commonly cited figure is “about 14,500” Walmart workers on SNAP in nine states, reported in a 2020/2021-era dataset cited by The Washington Post and repeated in advocacy and opinion pieces [1] [2]. State‑level and academic reports list Walmart among top local employers of SNAP recipients but do not offer a current national total [3] [4].
1. The oft‑repeated “14,500” number — what it actually is
The figure that circulates widely — roughly 14,500 Walmart employees on SNAP — comes from a study of a limited set of states (nine states reported on SNAP in the dataset cited) and was summarized in reporting and advocacy material; that number is not presented as a national total for all Walmart employees [1] [2]. Sources trace it to state agency responses compiled in the earlier study; it covers only states that returned data, not every U.S. state [2].
2. Why this data is incomplete and easily misread
Multiple sources warn that national administrative data on SNAP recipients rarely includes employer identifiers, and the 14,500 tally reflects only the responding states’ disclosures rather than a comprehensive count for Walmart’s entire U.S. workforce [1] [5]. Analysts and advocacy groups use such partial state lists to illustrate trends — who shows up most often among top employers — but they do not establish a current nationwide headcount [5].
3. Recent reporting and state studies confirm Walmart as a top employer of SNAP recipients
More recent state and academic work continues to list Walmart among the leading employers of workers who receive SNAP benefits; for example, a UMass Amherst Labor Center working paper identified Walmart among top employers of SNAP recipients in Massachusetts and discussed broader dependence on benefits among state workers [3]. National outlets likewise report Walmart as the retailer that captures the largest share of SNAP customer spending, underscoring its prominence in the SNAP ecosystem [6] [7].
4. Different measures: employees on SNAP vs. SNAP spending at stores
Reporting separates two related but distinct facts: the share of SNAP dollars spent at retailers (Walmart captures a large share of SNAP spending nationally) and the count of retailer employees who receive SNAP (the latter is fragmented by state data). Numerator and other market researchers report Walmart captures roughly a quarter of SNAP shopper spending in some 2025 analyses, a separate metric from employee enrollment in benefits [6] [7].
5. How advocacy and social posts amplify partial figures
Advocacy pieces and social posts often recycle the nine‑state 14,500 number as if it were a national total; threads and opinion sites use the statistic to argue that large employers rely on public assistance to subsidize low wages [8] [1]. That framing highlights structural concerns but risks overstating the data’s geographic scope when readers interpret the figure as nationwide [1] [5].
6. Competing narratives and political uses of the data
Progressive advocates and some lawmakers use state‑level tallies to argue that major corporations’ wage practices push workers onto public assistance; opponents sometimes emphasize data limits and causation questions. Both sides cite the same fragmented datasets: one frames the numbers as evidence of corporate reliance on public subsidies, the other points to methodological gaps that prevent simple causal claims [2] [5].
7. What journalists and researchers should do next
To move beyond repeated partial figures, reporting needs: (a) broader, recent state responses or a federal study that links employer identifiers to SNAP enrollment, and (b) transparency on methodology when advocacy groups cite state tallies. Current articles and academic pieces recommend those steps because national administrative files typically do not include employer names, and claim verification requires fuller data [5] [3].
8. Bottom line for readers seeking a clean answer
There is no reliable published national total in the provided reporting; the best‑known number — about 14,500 Walmart employees on SNAP — applies to a subset of nine states and should not be interpreted as an up‑to‑date nationwide count [1] [2]. Available sources do not mention a current, comprehensive national headcount of Walmart employees receiving SNAP beyond those state‑level snapshots [3] [5].