Fact check: Which states had the largest year-over-year change in average monthly SNAP benefit per recipient between 2024 and 2025?

1. Why the obvious numbers are missing — the data gap that stops a direct answer

The assembled materials show a consistent pattern: descriptive guidance on eligibility and COLA rules and aggregated historical benefit levels through FY2024, yet no state-level 2025 benefit-per-recipient figures. The KFF dataset cited provides average monthly SNAP benefits per participant through FY2024 and notes a U.S. average of $187.17 in FY2024, but it explicitly stops before 2025 and therefore cannot supply a 2024→2025 change by state ^[1]. The USDA site referenced is the official repository for SNAP tables and dashboards, and it is the logical place where state 2025 figures would be posted when compiled, but the specific table needed for a 2024 vs 2025 state-by-state comparison is not present in the provided content ^[3]. Because of this data gap, any claim about which states had the largest year-over-year changes would be speculative without additional data.

2. What the 2025 policy changes do tell us about possible directional shifts

Federal policy changes give a plausible mechanism for benefit increases in 2025: the USDA published fiscal year 2025 Cost-of-Living Adjustments that raise maximum allotments, income eligibility standards, and deductions, which will lift benefit levels for many households subject to standard federal formulas ^[2]. Those COLA-driven increases apply nationwide to federal maximums, but the ultimate per-recipient average in each state also depends on casemix, state administration, timing of benefit distributions, and eligibility uptake, factors not captured in the COLA memo. Advocacy and reporting pieces note that new maximums were announced and that some states or territories have additional administrative differences ^[4], suggesting heterogeneity in how COLA translates into measured averages; however, none of the supplied items quantify those state-by-state net effects for 2025 ^{[2] [4]}.

3. Where current authoritative data do exist and how they fall short for this question

The most directly relevant authoritative resource in the packet is the USDA’s SNAP Data Tables and the SNAP in Action dashboard; these are the sources that publish participation counts, total benefits, and average benefits historically and by state, and they are the correct places to obtain the missing 2025 state averages ^[3]. KFF’s aggregation provides a clean historical series through FY2024 useful as a baseline and documents the national FY2024 average, but it does not extend into 2025 and therefore cannot produce a year-over-year state comparison for 2024→2025 ^[1]. Media coverage included here focuses on program impacts and operational risks rather than on the statistical tabulation needed to compute precise state-level changes ^[5].

4. How one would compute the 2024→2025 state changes correctly

To compute the requested year-over-year changes properly, analysts must obtain the state-level average monthly SNAP benefit per recipient for calendar year or fiscal year 2024 and the matching 2025 figure, ensuring consistent period definitions (FY vs calendar year). The necessary numerator is total benefits issued in the state over the period and the denominator is average monthly participants; the USDA tables supply both elements when posted for a given year, and KFF or state SNAP reports can corroborate methodology and timing ^{[3] [1]}. Analysts must also account for timing differences such as mid-year COLA implementation and one-time emergency allotments or temporary policy shifts that would distort simple year-to-year comparisons; the provided materials highlight a 2025 COLA that would generally raise averages but do not quantify such timing effects ^[2].

5. Practical next steps and where to look for a definitive answer

For a definitive, sourced identification of which states experienced the largest year-over-year changes from 2024 to 2025, retrieve the state-level tables for both years from the USDA SNAP Data Tables and the SNAP in Action dashboard, then compute percent and absolute changes; KFF’s page on average monthly benefits through FY2024 remains a useful baseline to validate historical numbers ^{[3] [1]}. If immediate media context is needed while awaiting official 2025 tables, watch reporting that tracks the implementation of the 2025 COLA and any state-specific waivers or emergency allotments, acknowledging that such pieces report policy movement and not final tabulations ^{[2] [5]}. Once the USDA posts the 2025 state averages, a reproducible calculation will reveal which states had the largest year-over-year increases or decreases.