Does Minnesota Department of Human Services publish SNAP participant demographics by race and age for 2023–2025?
Executive summary
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services does not appear to publish a standalone, continuously updated public table of SNAP participants by race and age covering calendar years 2023–2025; instead, researchers rely on federal SNAP “Characteristics” products and third‑party state fact sheets that report FY2023 and earlier demographic shares for Minnesota [1] [2] [3]. The clearest state‑level demographic breakdowns for FY2023 come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food and Nutrition Service (USDA/FNS) SNAP Characteristics report and its state fact sheets, and national analyses [1] [2] [4].
1. Where the authoritative state numbers actually come from — federal reporting, not a DHS time series
The USDA/FNS produces an annual Characteristics of SNAP Households report that explicitly includes state‑level tables and demographic breakdowns based on SNAP Quality Control data for fiscal year 2023, and that report is the primary source for FY2023 race and age estimates for Minnesota [1] [2]. Non‑government analyses and state fact sheets — for example the USDA state fact sheet for Minnesota and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) state fact sheets — republish or summarize those federal data; CBPP’s Minnesota sheet notes participant counts from FY2024 administrative data but specifies that demographic shares are based on FY2022 SNAP Quality Control data in that product [3] [4]. That distinction underscores that the clearest demographic snapshots for Minnesota in the public record come from federal QC sampling and downstream summaries, not from a Minnesota DHS yearly race‑and‑age series covering 2023–2025 [1] [2] [3].
2. What Minnesota DHS publishes — program metrics and periodic reports, not a continuous race/age table for 2023–2025
Minnesota DHS hosts program dashboards, “by the numbers” pages, and prior characteristics reports (for example a DHS characteristics report that documents trends through December 2022 and policy changes during the public‑health emergency), but those published DHS materials in the provided record stop short of offering a clean, public race‑by‑age breakdown for the 2023–2025 period the way USDA’s FY reports do [5] [6] [7]. The DHS documents that do exist give useful context on enrollment trends, emergency allotments, and policy changes (important for interpretation), but the reporting reviewed does not show a DHS time series that publicly releases Minnesota SNAP counts explicitly disaggregated by both race and age for each year 2023, 2024, and 2025 [5] [6].
3. How to get the demographic detail researchers need — use USDA state tables and acknowledged limitations
To obtain Minnesota SNAP participant demographics by race and age for FY2023, the USDA/FNS Characteristics report and the SNAP state fact sheet are the authoritative public sources; the FY2023 report contains state tables and national context and is explicitly designed to describe participant race and age distributions [1] [2] [4]. Analysts should note that some secondary fact sheets (CBPP, FRAC) may use FY2022 QC shares or federal administrative counts for different parts of their products, so careful attention to the notes on data year and methodology is necessary [3] [8]. The available materials also flag common limitations — for example sizable “race unknown” shares and the distinction between household‑level counts and individual participants — which affect precision and interpretation [2] [1].
4. Bottom line, caveats, and next steps for investigators
Bottom line: Minnesota DHS does not publish a clearly labeled, public series of SNAP participant demographics by race and age for calendar years 2023–2025 in the materials reviewed; instead, USDA/FNS’s FY2023 Characteristics report and associated state fact sheets provide the needed demographic breakdowns for that fiscal year, and third‑party summaries (CBPP, FRAC) repurpose those federal data with varying year attributions [1] [2] [3]. The limitation in the record is that DHS’s own public releases appear to focus on program volume, policy changes, and historical characteristics through 2022 rather than publishing a DHS‑generated race/age table for each of 2023–2025 [5] [6]. For definitive, reproducible state demographics for FY2023, consult USDA/FNS state tables; to construct an explicit 2023–2025 Minnesota series, researchers will need to combine federal FY reports, DHS enrollment totals, and any QC notes while being transparent about mismatched years and the “race unknown” category that appears in the QC data [1] [2] [3].