Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
What percentage of federal spending goes to SNAP in 2024?
Executive Summary
Federal SNAP outlays for fiscal year 2024 are reported in recent sources at roughly $100 billion to $112 billion; when framed against the entire federal budget those figures are commonly presented as about 1.5%–1.6% of federal spending. Different agencies and analysts report slightly different SNAP dollar totals and use differing definitions of “federal spending,” which explains the small variance in the percentage figures cited [1] [2] [3].
1. Why the headline percentage lands near 1.5% — and who says so
Multiple recent summaries place SNAP’s share of total federal spending around one and a half percent, based on 2024 SNAP outlays reported near $100 billion. One widely cited summary states SNAP cost roughly $100.3 billion in fiscal 2024 and explicitly reports that this spending comprised 1.5% of all federal spending [1]. Another prominent policy primer reports SNAP at about $100 billion and frames that as 1.6% of the federal budget in 2024 [2]. Both figures point to the same order of magnitude: SNAP is a relatively small line item within total federal outlays. These presentations are meant to make SNAP’s place in the broader federal budget easily comparable to other large programs and to respond to public debates over program scale.
2. Why dollar totals vary: competing data from budget offices and agencies
Official budget estimates and program-level statistics show variation in the 2024 dollar totals for SNAP, which drives differences in percentage calculations. The Congressional Budget Office produced baseline estimates with outlays for 2024 reported in different CBO publications at roughly $104–112 billion depending on the update and whether the figure cited is “outlays” or “budget authority” [4] [5]. Separately, USDA statistics and other program tallies list fiscal 2024 federal SNAP spending at about $99.8 billion or roughly $100.3 billion in alternative summaries [3] [1]. The discrepancies reflect timing, rounding, and whether totals include associated administrative or territorial assistance costs rather than differences in underlying program activity.
3. The denominator problem: what counts as “federal spending”?
Calculating a percentage requires a numerator (SNAP outlays) and a denominator (total federal spending), and analysts differ in which total they use. The 1.5% and 1.6% figures rely on particular budget baselines or aggregated federal outlays for fiscal 2024 as reported by the organizations publishing those percentages [1] [2]. Other primary sources—like the CBO—provide SNAP outlays but do not themselves publish the percent of total federal spending in those specific SNAP reports, leaving the comparison to secondary syntheses or to a user-specified total federal outlays figure [4] [5]. Differences in whether the denominator is “budget authority,” “net outlays,” or a broader multi-year baseline can move the resulting percentage by tenths of a point.
4. Methodological choices that change the headline
Small methodological choices change the headline percentage more than large substantive differences in program scale. Using year-to-year adjusted dollars versus nominal dollars, including or excluding benefits paid to territories, and choosing which federal spending series to compare against all shift the ratio slightly. CBO snapshots that list SNAP budget authority and outlays in multiple places show these categories differ from the single USDA tally of program outlays for participants, which partly explains why one source will say $111.7 billion while another says about $100 billion for the same fiscal year [5] [3]. Analysts projecting the budgetary impact of legislative changes also report decade-long savings or increases, which affect multi-year percentage statements but not the single-year 2024 snapshot [2].
5. Reconciling the numbers: a practical, transparent answer
A defensible public answer: SNAP cost about $100 billion in fiscal 2024 and represented roughly 1.5% to 1.6% of federal spending, depending on the precise federal spending series used as the denominator [1] [2] [3]. If one uses certain CBO outlay estimates that are slightly higher (around $111 billion), the percent could round similarly given the size of total federal outlays. The key transparency best practice for any claimant is to state both the SNAP dollar figure and which total-federal-spending measure produced the percentage so readers can evaluate the comparison themselves [4] [5].
6. Policy context and why this percentage matters politically
Presenting SNAP as roughly 1.5% of federal spending contextualizes debates about program scope, cost-effectiveness, and proposed reforms. Analysts emphasize that SNAP is countercyclical—costs and participation track economic need—so year-to-year percentages can rise during recessions and fall in expansions [2]. Proposed legislative changes that project multi-year reductions in SNAP spending (cited in policy briefs) would change both the annual dollar totals and the program’s share of federal spending over time; citing a single-year percentage without that context can be misleading [2] [6].