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Fact check: What percentage of immigrant households receive SNAP benefits in the United States as of 2025?
Executive Summary
As of the sources available through October 2025, there is no single, authoritative percentage reported for how many immigrant households receive SNAP benefits nationwide; the materials reviewed explicitly do not provide that figure and instead focus on eligibility rules and recent policy changes that affect immigrant access to SNAP [1] [2] [3]. Multiple local estimates and program-impact projections exist, and recent legislation in 2025 is driving substantial changes to who remains eligible, but those figures are fragmented across counties, states and stakeholder analyses rather than producing a consolidated national household percentage [4] [5] [6].
1. Why the direct percentage is missing — data and reporting gaps that matter
None of the reviewed pieces supplies a national percentage of immigrant households participating in SNAP; they instead document eligibility categories, local impact estimates, and policy shifts. Federal reporting typically separates counts by immigration status, citizenship, or legal presence and by individuals rather than household units, creating mismatches when attempting to derive “percent of immigrant households” from available counts [1] [2]. Several articles note that recent statutory changes in 2025 complicate cross-year comparison because eligibility rules changed mid-decade, meaning any pre-2025 share would be a poor indicator of the current situation [3] [6].
2. Who is explicitly eligible today — exceptions and exclusions that shape the pool
The sources emphasize that SNAP is generally limited to U.S. citizens and certain lawfully present noncitizens, with explicit exceptions for refugees, asylees, trafficking victims, and some other humanitarian groups who are eligible either immediately or after specific waiting periods [7] [2]. These eligibility rules mean that the immigrant population is heterogeneous: some subgroups have routine access to SNAP while others are categorically excluded. Counting “immigrant households” therefore requires careful definition of which immigrant statuses are included or excluded in any analysis [7].
3. 2025 policy changes are a game-changer — what the new laws do
Multiple sources describe the 2025 “megabill” or “One Big Beautiful Bill” as imposing new eligibility barriers, administrative shifts, and work-related requirements that will affect lawfully present immigrants and potentially remove many from federal SNAP rolls. Analyses indicate the law shifts administrative burdens to states and counties and tightens enrollment criteria, which will produce abrupt local declines even if a national percentage is not yet quantified [1] [3] [6]. The timing of these changes means that any post-2025 measurement must account for policy implementation schedules.
4. Local snapshots show scale but no national denominator
Several reports give local or state-level impact figures: Massachusetts estimated roughly 10,000 legally present immigrants could lose eligibility, Franklin County, Ohio estimated 4,125 individuals affected with 43% children, and a September 2025 projection estimated about 90,000 people could lose SNAP in a typical month under the new law [4] [5] [6]. These numbers are important signals of scale but cannot be converted cleanly into a national immigrant-household percentage without consistent household counts, matched immigration-status denominators, and temporal alignment across jurisdictions.
5. Research shows policy environment drives immigrant participation
Academic and policy studies cited indicate that immigrant participation in SNAP is sensitive to local integration policies, anti-deportation protections, and outreach; where jurisdictions adopt inclusive policies, immigrant households are more likely to enroll [8]. This research implies participation rates vary geographically and over time with law and practice, further complicating any single national percentage. Evaluations also note chilling effects—eligible immigrants may avoid enrollment due to fear of immigration consequences—which reduces observed participation even when eligibility exists [8].
6. Why different sources may disagree — agendas and measurement choices
The reviewed materials come from advocacy-oriented reporting, localized government estimates, and academic studies; each uses different definitions and purposes. Media pieces focus on immediate impacts and human stories, state reports highlight administrative fiscal risks, and studies examine structural drivers of participation [3] [5] [8]. These divergent aims explain why some sources emphasize counts of people losing benefits while others emphasize legal eligibility categories; none synthesizes these strands into a robust national household share for 2025 [1] [6].
7. The bottom line and what to watch next
There is currently no published, authoritative national percentage of immigrant households receiving SNAP as of 2025 in the reviewed sources; instead, policymakers and researchers must rely on piecemeal local estimates, eligibility rule summaries, and policy-impact projections to understand changes [1] [4] [6]. To produce a definitive percentage, policymakers would need coordinated USDA or Census analysis that reconciles immigration-status categories, household denominators, and the post-2025 eligibility landscape. Watch for forthcoming federal/state reports and peer-reviewed analyses that attempt that reconciliation.