How does the U.S. taxpayer cost for SNAP compare with other major social safety-net programs?
Executive summary
SNAP costs roughly $8 billion per month — about $100 billion in FY2024 — and accounts for roughly 70% of USDA nutrition assistance spending, making it the largest federal nutrition program [1] [2] [3]. Multiple reporters and analysts note that SNAP’s federal outlays are substantially smaller than the largest safety-net programs (Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid are not quantified in the supplied sources), and SNAP’s FY2024 spending of about $100 billion is well below pandemic-era peaks [4] [2].
1. SNAP’s sticker price: $8 billion a month, ~ $100 billion a year
Reporting across outlets converges on a near-term figure: federal SNAP benefit costs run a little over $8 billion per month — which translates into roughly $100 billion for FY2024 when including benefits and program costs [1] [5] [2]. USAFacts and USDA-linked summaries show that about $93.8 billion of FY2024 spending went to monthly benefits, with the rest covering administration and smaller program lines [2].
2. How SNAP fits into USDA nutrition spending
SNAP is the dominant USDA nutrition program, comprising about 70% of USDA nutrition assistance spending in FY2024 [3]. That concentration means policy moves affecting SNAP can reshape the entire federal nutrition-assistance portfolio even if SNAP’s total federal tab is smaller than the biggest entitlement programs [3].
3. Relative scale: “much less than other safety-net programs” — but the sources don’t list those totals
Analysts emphasize that “federal spending on SNAP is much less than other social safety net programs,” a point repeated by Journalist’s Resource and other coverage [4]. The supplied reporting does not, however, provide the dollar-by-dollar comparisons to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid within these sources; those program totals are not mentioned in the current reporting provided here (available sources do not mention Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid dollar amounts).
4. Why monthly cost framing matters in crises
Coverage of the 2025 shutdown repeatedly framed SNAP in monthly terms — $8+ billion per month — because benefits are paid monthly and shortfalls create immediate household hardship [1] [5] [6]. Courts, states and food banks reacted to a single-month funding disruption precisely because a pause in $8 billion of monthly transfers affects about 42 million recipients in the near term [1] [7].
5. Recent volatility: pandemic spikes and policy changes
SNAP spending and per-recipient benefit levels rose sharply during the COVID-19 emergency and have since declined from peaks; FY2024 spending (~$100B) was 24.1% lower than the inflation-adjusted high in FY2021, underscoring substantial year-to-year swings tied to policy and need [2] [4]. Average per-person monthly benefits in 2025 were around $187–$188, a helpful micro-level datum for understanding the macro cost [8] [9].
6. Administration, states and shared costs
States and the USDA jointly run SNAP: states administer benefits while the federal government pays the benefit tab and typically shares administrative costs with states (typically 50–50 on administration, according to reporting) [10]. That administrative split matters when federal administrative funds are threatened — states face operational strain even beyond benefit dollars [10].
7. Competing narratives and political stakes
News outlets quote administration officials saying there aren’t “pots” of money available to cover SNAP amid a shutdown and note legal battles forcing the government to pay November benefits [11] [1]. Advocates emphasize the program’s scale and immediacy for low-income households; some officials stress legal or budgetary constraints on reprogramming funds. Both positions appear across the reporting [11] [1] [5].
8. What the available sources do not say
The supplied sources do not provide side‑by‑side dollar comparisons between SNAP and the largest federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) or a complete ranking of safety-net programs by cost; they stop short of quantifying those other programs within this dataset (available sources do not mention those program totals). They also do not provide long-term CBO projections of SNAP relative to other programs in the materials given here (available sources do not mention CBO long-term comparisons).
9. Bottom line for taxpayers and policy
For taxpayers and policymakers, SNAP is a large, concentrated federal expenditure in nutrition assistance — roughly $8 billion monthly and about $100 billion in FY2024 — but reporting included here stresses it is still “much less” than the biggest safety-net programs without supplying their specific figures [1] [4] [2]. The program’s monthly cadence makes it uniquely vulnerable to short-term funding disruptions, with immediate effects for millions of recipients and state administrators [1] [10].