Where can I download Minnesota SNAP participation counts by race and ethnicity for 2024–2025 from USDA or state datasets?
Executive summary
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) publishes downloadable SNAP participation tables that include state-level counts and time series files, and the USDA Characteristics reports provide race and ethnicity breakdowns at the national level; however, publicly available USDA materials cited here do not clearly document a dedicated, published table that breaks Minnesota’s 2024–2025 SNAP counts by race and ethnicity in the same way the national Characteristics report does (USDA FNS data tables) [1] [2] [3]. For researchers seeking Minnesota-specific race/ethnicity counts for 2024–2025, the practical route is: 1) pull state-level participation files from USDA FNS’s SNAP Data Tables and 2) consult the USDA Characteristics report for national race/ethnicity methods and figures while probing state sources (Minnesota DHS) or requesting custom tabulations if the FNS files lack the specific cross-tabulation needed [1] [2].
1. Where USDA publishes downloadable SNAP participation data — and what it contains
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service maintains a “SNAP Data Tables” page where participation and cost tables back to FY1969 are offered as PDFs and Excel files, including zipped FY69–FY25 files and “FY22 through FY25 National View Summary” spreadsheets that can be downloaded for program counts by state and month [1]. These FNS tables are the authoritative starting point for downloading Minnesota participation totals and trend files for 2024–2025; the page explicitly contains state-level participation and benefit tables in downloadable Excel and ZIP formats [1].
2. National race and ethnicity breakdowns live in the USDA Characteristics reports
USDA’s annual “Characteristics of SNAP Households” report provides the clearest official breakdown of participant race and ethnicity (the FY2023 Characteristics report is the most recent report cited), including national shares such as White 35.4%, Black/African American 25.7%, Hispanic 15.6%, Asian 3.9%, and Native American 1.3% — figures documented and discussed in the USDA report and summarized by analysts like FRAC and PolitiFact [2] [3] [4]. Those Characteristics reports are downloadable as PDFs from USDA FNS and should be consulted for definition, methodology, and national race/ethnicity categories before attempting state-level analysis [2] [3].
3. The gap between national race tables and state cross‑tabs — and how to bridge it
While USDA provides national race/ethnicity breakdowns in the Characteristics report, the public FNS data tables emphasize counts by state and by month for persons and households and do not obviously publish the same detailed race-by-state cross-tab for FY2024–FY2025 in the materials cited here; therefore, Minnesota-specific race/ethnicity counts for 2024–2025 are not clearly documented in the supplied USDA files [1] [2]. To bridge that gap, researchers typically either request custom cross-tabulations from USDA/FNS or turn to the Minnesota Department of Human Services for administrative extracts and public reports that may include demographic breakdowns, or use survey-based estimates (e.g., American Community Survey) as a supplement when administrative race cross-tabs are unavailable — a limitation in the provided sources prevents asserting that FNS lacks any such cross-tab entirely, but the cited public downloads do not show an explicit Minnesota race/ethnicity table for FY24–FY25 [1] [2].
4. Alternate federal resources and context to check next
USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) publishes charts and state comparisons that document how SNAP participation varies geographically and offers downloadable chart data and state-level metrics (useful context but not necessarily race cross-tabs) and several independent groups — like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and research organizations — publish state fact sheets and analyses that may combine federal data with other sources for state-level portraits [5] [6]. Media fact-checks and advocacy summaries (PolitiFact, FRAC) confirm USDA’s national race percentages and are useful for triangulating methodology and known caveats around “unknown” race coding in administrative records [4] [7].
5. Recommended practical steps to obtain Minnesota 2024–2025 race/ethnicity counts
First, download the relevant FY22–FY25 ZIP and state-level participation Excel files from the USDA FNS SNAP Data Tables page to get Minnesota counts and monthly totals [1]. Second, download the USDA “Characteristics of SNAP Households” report to understand race/ethnicity definitions and national benchmark rates [2] [3]. Third, if a Minnesota race-by-SNAP-count cross-tab for FY2024–FY2025 is not in those public files, submit a data request to USDA FNS or the Minnesota Department of Human Services for administrative cross-tabulations or look for Minnesota DHS reports or researcher access procedures; the provided sources do not include a direct link to a published Minnesota race-by-SNAP table for 2024–2025, so that outreach step is likely necessary [1] [2].