Which states have the highest SNAP participation rates in 2022 and are they Democratic-leaning?

1. What the official counts say about 2022: high‑use states and numbers

USDA’s Economic Research Service reports the share of residents receiving SNAP in FY2022 ranged from as high as 24.5% in New Mexico to as low as 4.6% in Utah, and the nationwide resident share was about 12.3% in FY2022; separate FNS analysis highlights the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin as having participation rates statistically higher than two‑thirds of states in both pre‑pandemic FY2020 and FY2022 ^{[1] [2]}. The FNS research brief “Reaching Those in Need” also estimates that roughly 88% of eligible people nationwide received SNAP in FY2022, with regional and state variation ^{[2] [5]}.

2. Definitions matter: “participation rate” versus “share of residents”

FNS’s participation‑rate metric measures the percentage of people eligible for SNAP who receive benefits; ERS and other briefings often report the share of all residents who receive SNAP in a given year. Those are related but different indicators: high “share of residents receiving SNAP” can reflect higher poverty or more generous enrollment, while high “participation rate” means the state is doing well at reaching eligible people ^{[5] [1]}.

3. Political leanings: mixed patterns, not a neat partisan map

Reporting cautions that SNAP use does not fall neatly along partisan lines. Business Insider notes that several predominantly Democratic‑voting states such as Oregon and New Mexico have above‑average SNAP enrollment, but other high‑use places are in Republican‑leaning regions; county‑level analyses find many counties with the largest increases in SNAP use voted for Trump in 2020 ^{[3] [4]}. In short, some high‑SNAP states lean Democratic, some lean Republican, and many reflect local economic conditions rather than straightforward partisan identity ^{[3] [4]}.

4. Why high SNAP use and party control don’t perfectly align

Experts and reporting emphasize that poverty, unemployment, state eligibility rules and outreach drive SNAP shares more than party labels. The Southern states often show high shares of residents on SNAP because of higher poverty rates, but state policy choices (stricter or more lenient eligibility/administration) also shift the numbers; the correlation between poverty and SNAP share is imperfect ^{[6] [1]}. FNS’s region‑level results (for example, a 98% Midwest region participation rate in FNS analysis) show administrative and programmatic factors matter ^[2].

5. What the data cannot tell us alone — limits and gaps

Available sources do not provide a single, authoritative list that ranks every state by both measures (share of residents and participation rate) alongside a clear partisan label for each state in 2022 in one table; FNS and ERS publish complementary measures and the FNS brief focuses on the reach among those eligible while ERS reports resident shares ^{[5] [1]}. Also, county‑level trends and changes since 2022 are discussed in separate analyses; those local trends can shift how SNAP counts map onto partisan geographies ^[4].

6. Takeaway for readers and policy watchers

High SNAP participation in a state signals either greater need, better outreach to eligible people, or both — and that reality cuts across party lines. The FNS list of high‑participation states includes several Democratic‑leaning jurisdictions (e.g., Massachusetts, Oregon) but also shows the phenomenon is regionally and administratively driven rather than purely partisan ^{[2] [3]}. For questions about a particular state’s 2022 rank or whether its participation rate was statistically above the national rate, consult the USDA FNS and ERS state tables and briefs cited here to see which metric (resident share vs. participation rate) you prefer ^{[5] [1]}.