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Fact check: How has the state ranking of SNAP benefits usage changed since 2020?
Executive Summary
The available analyses indicate that state rankings of SNAP participation shifted between 2020 and 2024, with national participation around 12% in 2024 and notable state variation such as New Mexico at 21.2% and Utah at 4.8%, while Alabama reported 15% participation in 2024 [1] [2]. The reviewed materials document overall program scale—roughly 41 million recipients in 2024—but they do not provide a single authoritative, ranked list showing precise movements for every state from 2020 to 2024; several sources provide estimates or partial comparisons that must be combined to infer ranking changes [1] [3] [2].
1. Why the question matters now: SNAP’s footprint grew and then shifted across states
SNAP participation changed meaningfully since 2020 because policy, economic conditions and pandemic-era adjustments altered enrollment and eligibility, producing state-level divergences in participation shares by 2024; national totals are large—about 41 million participants—but state shares vary widely, making ranking changes plausible and consequential for budgets and advocacy [1] [2]. The January 2025 and August 2025 materials highlight both the aggregate scale and state extremes, showing how state-by-state variation matters for federal stimulus design, state budgets and anti-hunger efforts even though a complete time-series ranking is not included in any single source [1] [2].
2. What the data say about 2024 hotspots and low points
Fiscal year 2024 figures reported New Mexico as the highest share of residents on SNAP at 21.2% and Utah as the lowest at 4.8%, demonstrating stark interstate differences in reliance on the program; Alabama’s 2024 share is noted at 15%, above the national average of 12%, and the national participant count was about 41,697,500 [1] [2]. These specific state percentages provide anchors for ranking discussions: some states experienced higher-than-average participation, while others remained relatively low, implying that movement in rankings since 2020 is driven by differing economic conditions, policy choices and enrollment dynamics across states [1] [2].
3. Limitations in the source material: missing a direct 2020-to-2024 ranked comparison
None of the provided analyses supplies a comprehensive, reproducible ranked list that directly compares each state’s position in 2020 with its position in 2024; the Empirical Bayes estimates cover FY2020 and FY2022 participation rates but do not provide a straightforward ranking-change table for the 2020–2024 interval, and some state-by-state updates are password protected or partial [3] [4]. Because the sources are fragmented—some giving 2024 snapshots, others giving method papers for FY2020 and FY2022—inferring exact ranking shifts for every state requires merging datasets or accessing the restricted update, a task the available materials do not complete [3] [4].
4. Where sources agree and where they diverge on magnitude and coverage
All reviewed items consistently report the national scale (about 41 million recipients) and emphasize state variation; they agree on examples like New Mexico and Utah as high and low endpoints and note Alabama’s above-average rate [1] [2]. They diverge, however, on coverage and specificity: an Empirical Bayes methods note gives robust small-area estimates for FY2020 and FY2022 but stops short of FY2024 rankings, while news pieces offer FY2024 snapshots without longitudinal, state-by-state rank changes, producing complementary but incomplete pictures that must be integrated cautiously [3] [2].
5. What can reasonably be concluded about ranking movement since 2020
Given the provided materials, it is reasonable to conclude that rankings shifted for some states between 2020 and 2024, evidenced by large differences in 2024 shares and the known pandemic-era enrollment surge and subsequent adjustments; specific examples—Alabama at 15% in 2024, New Mexico at 21.2%, Utah at 4.8%—demonstrate relative positions in 2024 but do not document every state’s prior 2020 rank, so claims about blanket upward or downward national rank shifts remain partially substantiated [1] [2] [3].
6. What’s needed to answer the question definitively
To definitively map how every state’s SNAP ranking changed since 2020 requires an integrated dataset showing each state’s participation share in 2020 and 2024 and a clear methodology for ranking (participation rate vs. absolute count). The Empirical Bayes FY2020/FY2022 estimates are a methodological starting point but must be combined with FY2024 state-by-state counts or rates—ideally the password-protected update referenced—to produce a fully supported ranking-change table [3] [4].
7. Takeaway for users and researchers tracking SNAP trends
Researchers and policymakers should treat the existing materials as complementary snapshots: the January 2025 and August 2025 summaries document national totals and 2024 extremes, while the methodological FY2020/FY2022 estimates offer comparative tools but stop short of a full 2020–2024 ranking series. For a definitive ranking change analysis, obtain the FY2024 state-rate dataset (including the protected update) and reconcile it with the FY2020 estimates; only then can one produce an authoritative, state-by-state ranking change since 2020 [1] [3] [2] [4].