What percentage of red states use snap
Executive summary
All U.S. states administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and participation rates vary widely across states; the clearest, directly reported benchmark is that SNAP served 12.3% of U.S. residents in fiscal year 2024, while state shares ranged from about 4.8% up to roughly 21.2% [1] [2]. The exact percentage of “red states” whose residents use SNAP depends on how “red” is defined and requires combining state-level participation data (available) with a partisan map (not provided in the sources), so a single precise aggregate for “red states” cannot be computed from the supplied reporting alone [3] [1].
1. SNAP is a nationwide program; every state uses it, but usage rates vary
SNAP is the nation’s largest federal food and nutrition assistance program and is administered in every state, serving an average of 41.7 million people per month in FY2024, or 12.3% of U.S. residents overall [1] [2]. That means every state—including states classified as “red” in political maps—operates SNAP, but the share of each state’s population on the program differs substantially from one state to another [1].
2. The best public numbers: national baseline and state ranges
Federal reporting from the USDA Economic Research Service shows the national participation share (12.3%) and the state-level range—about 4.8% at the low end to about 21.2% at the high end in FY2024—providing the factual bounds for any partisan breakdown [1] [2]. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and state-by-state fact sheets likewise supply granular participation counts and rates for individual states, which are the building blocks for any calculation about “red states” specifically [3].
3. Examples often cited in partisan debates — deep-red states can have high SNAP shares
Reporting and analyses point to several conservative or “deep-red” states having relatively high participation: for instance, coverage cited Louisiana at about 18% in a CBPP analysis referenced by Time, and outlets note that deep-red Southern states such as Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana appear among states with high percentages of SNAP recipients in USDA data [4] [5]. Conversely, low-participation states like Utah and Wyoming reported participation near the bottom of the range (about 4.8%–5.1%), illustrating the heterogeneity across states [1] [6].
4. Why a single “percentage of red states” using SNAP is analytically fraught
Answering “what percentage of red states use SNAP” requires first defining which states are “red” (by 2024/2025 governor, by 2024 presidential vote, by state legislature majority, etc.) and then aggregating state-level SNAP rates; the supplied sources include state-by-state SNAP fact sheets and national/state rates but do not provide a ready-made partisan aggregation, so an exact aggregate percentage for “red states” cannot be produced from these sources alone without additional partisan classification [3] [1]. Moreover, partisan labels can mask internal variation—some red states have high SNAP participation while others have very low rates—so simple partisan averages risk misleading policy conclusions [7].
5. Political narratives, competing claims and what the data supports
Political actors have framed SNAP as either a predominantly “Democratic” constituency or as a bipartisan reality affecting many red-state constituents; fact-based reporting warns against simplistic claims about party affiliation because the raw USDA data show large SNAP caseloads in several deep-red Southern states and because party affiliation of recipients is not directly reported in the SNAP statistics [5] [8]. Analysts also note how state-level policy choices—in areas like TANF interaction and eligibility rules—affect measured SNAP generosity and participation, which complicates partisan attributions [7] [2].
6. Bottom line
All “red states” participate in SNAP because it is a federal program implemented statewide; the national participation rate was 12.3% in FY2024 and state shares run roughly from 4.8% to 21.2% [1] [2]. The precise percentage of people in states that one might label “red” who use SNAP cannot be calculated solely from the provided sources without an agreed definition of “red states” and a partisan mapping to the available state-by-state SNAP data [3] [1]. For an exact partisan aggregate, combine the CBPP/USDA state fact sheets with a defined list of “red” states and perform a population-weighted calculation.