How do states vary in SNAP income limit adjustments for 2025?
Executive summary
Most SNAP income and deduction standards for FY2025 were raised nationally as part of USDA’s annual cost‑of‑living adjustments: the standard deduction for 1–3 person households rose to $204/month in the 48 contiguous states and D.C., asset limits rose to $3,000 (or $4,500 for households with an elderly/disabled member), and federal tables set new net and gross income cutoffs effective Oct. 1, 2024 [1] [2] [3]. States then apply those federal floors and many use additional policies—like broad‑based categorical eligibility or higher gross‑income thresholds—so monthly qualifying incomes vary by state and household size [4] [5].
1. Federal COLA set the baseline — states must follow, but can add
USDA’s FY2025 COLA memo and income‑standards tables establish national minimum changes (standard deduction $204 for most states; asset limits $3,000 and $4,500 for elderly/disabled households; updated maximum allotments and income tables effective Oct. 1, 2024) that state agencies use to calculate eligibility [1] [2] [3]. Those federal adjustments do not eliminate state discretion: states implement the federal rules within their administrative systems and can choose policies such as broad‑based categorical eligibility (BBCE) that raise state income or resource limits beyond federal minima [4].
2. Why state limits look different — deductions, BBCE and local choices
A household’s qualifying income depends on gross and net tests after allowable deductions; because states vary in adopting BBCE or in how they apply deductions and medical/shelter standards, a family that qualifies in one state can be ineligible in another even under the same federal COLA [4] [5]. Reporting from aggregators and state pages shows practical variation: Propel’s state pages walk through monthly income limits by household size and note special rules for seniors/disabled households with higher asset thresholds, reflecting states’ implementation choices [5].
3. Most states raised their limits for 2025 — but not uniformly
Local reporting and state agency pages indicate that “most states” increased income limits for 2025 in response to updated federal guidelines and evolving HUD or state methodologies; those increases expanded eligibility for many working families, seniors and disabled people [6] [5]. New Jersey’s official page, for example, lists a gross income standard of 185% of the federal poverty level for October 2025–September 2026—an example of a state‑level published figure that differs from federal net‑income cutoffs and illustrates variation in how states present standards [7].
4. Practical effects: who gains, and who still falls through
Higher federal deductions and asset limits reduce technical barriers, and many states’ adoption of BBCE brings more households into categorical eligibility; these changes increased the pool of potentially eligible people in 2025 according to state and local summaries [4] [6]. However, available sources do not quantify exactly how many people gained eligibility per state in 2025; that granular enrollment impact is not provided in the materials cited here (not found in current reporting).
5. Where reporting diverges — watchdog/advocacy summaries vs. state tables
Advocacy and guidance sites (for example, Propel and FingerLakes1) emphasize expanded eligibility and walk readers through state‑by‑state income charts, while USDA publishes the official COLA memo and income tables that serve as the legal baseline [5] [6] [2] [3]. Both types of sources are necessary: state tables (like New York’s and Illinois’s pages) show how states present limits to applicants and sometimes list slightly different figures or supplemental state rules such as minimum benefits or shelter standards [8] [9].
6. Watch for one‑off state policies and the FY2026 transition
State choices—such as New Jersey’s published gross standard, Illinois’s utility/shelter figures, or states’ decisions about BBCE—mean a household must consult its state’s SNAP portal for exact monthly cutoffs and deduction rules [7] [9]. Federal COLA tables apply through Sept. 30, 2025, and sources also flag that new FY2026 adjustments will be published next cycle, so eligibility thresholds can shift again for Oct. 1, 2025–Sept. 30, 2026 [3] [1].
Limitations and takeaways: the USDA documents set mandatory FY2025 adjustments that raise deductions and asset limits and create a uniform federal baseline [1] [2] [3]. Implementation and additional state policies produce the real variation in monthly income cutoffs; consult your state’s SNAP website or the state tables cited by aggregators like Propel for precise household‑size income limits [5] [8] [7].