What are the 2025 net income limits and deductions for SNAP by household size?
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Executive summary
SNAP’s net-income eligibility for fiscal 2025 is calculated at 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) for a household’s size and is determined after allowable deductions are subtracted from gross income (USDA/FNS) [1] [2]. Key allowable deductions that reduce gross to net income include a standard deduction (raised for FY2026 but applicable patterns hold for FY2025), a 20% earned-income deduction, excess shelter and utility deductions (including optional Standard Utility Allowances), and medical deductions for elderly/disabled households; asset limits also differ by household composition [3] [1] [4] [5] [6].
1. Net income limit: set at 100% of the poverty line, varies by household size
Federal SNAP policy sets the monthly net-income test at 100% of the federal poverty level for the household size; households generally must meet both the gross-income test (130% of FPL) and the net-income test (100% of FPL) unless they include an elderly or disabled member, in which case only the net test applies [1] [7] [8]. The USDA’s Income Eligibility Standards publication contains a table of the net monthly limits by household size for each fiscal year (the FY2025 table is the official source for the specific dollar amounts) [2] [8]. The reporting provided does not reproduce every numeric line from that FNS table here; the authoritative monthly dollar amounts for each household size are in the FNS “Income Eligibility Standards” and COLA tables [2] [8].
2. How net income is calculated: the deductions that matter
Net income equals gross income minus legally allowable deductions, and SNAP’s major deductions are consistent across states: a standard deduction (which for FY2026 increased to $204 for households of one through three in the 48 states and D.C., indicating the scale of standard deductions around this period), an earned-income deduction equal to 20% of earned income, and a shelter deduction for housing costs that exceed half of a household’s income after other deductions; states may use a Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) when computing shelter costs [3] [1] [8] [4].
3. Special and additional deductions: elderly/disabled, homeless, and energy
Households with an elderly or disabled member can claim medical expenses above a statutory floor and face different resource considerations; many states apply a higher asset limit ($4,500) for such households [5] [6]. Homeless households can claim a homeless shelter deduction—reported to have risen to about $198.99 per month for FY2026—while energy or LIHEAP-related allowances and state-selected SUAs can also increase the shelter deduction used in the net-income calculation [4] [8] [1].
4. Assets and other eligibility caveats that affect net-income testing
Most states no longer apply an asset test except for households with elderly or disabled members; for general households the federal asset cap cited for most of the 48 states is $3,000 and $4,500 where an elderly/disabled household member exists [3] [6]. Changes enacted in 2025 (noted in FNS/other analysis) — including big omnibus bills — altered some program rules (for example, documentation requirements and time-limit rules) that can affect who must pass which tests and how deductions or allowances are applied in practice, so the basic net-income formula can have programmatic wrinkles depending on state implementation and new federal statutory changes [1] [9].
5. What the available reporting cannot show directly here
The FNS publications cited contain the definitive dollar figures for “Net Monthly Income Limit (100% of FPL)” by household size for fiscal 2025; those exact per-household-size monthly dollar amounts are contained in the FNS Income-Eligibility tables referenced but are not reproduced in full in the snippets provided to this report [2] [8]. For precise monthly limits for 1-person, 2-person, 3-person, etc., households, the FNS “Income Eligibility Standards” PDF and the SNAP FY COLA/allotment tables should be consulted directly [2] [8].