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Who qualifies for SNAP
Executive Summary
To qualify for SNAP under the new November 2025 rules, households must meet income, resource, and work-participation tests that are stricter in some ways and more geographically responsive in others. The central legal thresholds remain a gross monthly income at or below 130% of the Federal Poverty Line and net income at or below 100% of the poverty line, with asset limits applying to households without elderly or disabled members and renewed focus on work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) [1] [2] [3]. This analysis extracts the core claims found in the supplied materials, compares them across dates and sources, and flags where policy updates or differing emphases could change who is eligible in practice [1] [4].
1. Who the rules say should qualify — income, assets, and the headline thresholds
All supplied sources converge on three core eligibility tests: gross monthly income must be at or below 130% of the Federal Poverty Line; net income must be at or below 100% of the poverty line; and assets must fall under specified limits for non-elderly, non-disabled households. Multiple summaries repeat that asset caps apply differently depending on whether a household includes an elderly person or someone with a disability, with common figures cited such as $3,000 for most households and higher limits for others [2]. The November 2025 summaries reaffirm these thresholds as the baseline rules being used in eligibility determinations, indicating the rules are currently anchored to these federal poverty metrics and household composition tests [1].
2. Work requirements return and widen the net — who faces stricter participation rules
Recent sources report that ABAWDs face a reinstated and expanded work-participation regime in 2025: the mandatory participation age range expanded from 18–54 to 18–64, and affected adults must now work, volunteer, or enroll in approved training or education for at least 80 hours per month to retain benefits, unless excused by specified exemptions (pregnancy, disability, caregiving, etc.). These changes mark a significant tightening compared with pandemic-era waivers and prior leniencies; sources highlight that states retain some waiver authority in high-unemployment areas but that the federal baseline is now more prescriptive [3] [4]. The policy shift materially changes eligibility for a large subgroup of recipients and increases administrative obligations for states and individuals.
3. Geographic and administrative shifts that expand or contract eligibility in practice
Some analyses emphasize that updated HUD methodologies and state-level adjustments altered effective income limits across counties in 2025, meaning that even with the same federal thresholds, access changes by location. One source reported that over 70% of counties adopted higher effective limits due to rising wages and methodological updates, which can expand eligibility despite national work-rule tightening [5]. This divergence illustrates that federal thresholds set the legal floor, but state administrative choices and local economic data determine who falls above or below those lines in practice, producing winners and losers across counties based on updated data inputs and state implementation choices [1] [5].
4. Who is explicitly exempted or treated differently — elderly, disabled, caregivers, and students
The supplied materials consistently note exemptions and distinct rules for elderly and disabled individuals, primary caregivers, pregnant people, and certain students, who either face higher asset limits or are not subject to ABAWD work mandates. States may also apply waivers for areas with high unemployment, and individuals working 30 hours per week or with documented limitations are typically excused from work registration requirements [6] [4]. These carve-outs mean that headline eligibility numbers overstate the pool affected by work enforcement; some of the most vulnerable groups retain protective exceptions, so changes primarily alter obligations for able-bodied adults without dependents while leaving many existing protections in place [2] [6].
5. What to watch next — administrative capacity, waiver decisions, and reporting burdens
The practical impact of these changes will hinge on state administrative capacity, waiver approvals, and how aggressively states enforce new ABAWD hours and income tests, which sources indicate are immediate operational challenges for November 2025 rollout. Increased documentation and Employment & Training requirements could lead to coverage losses from procedural noncompliance even where households technically meet income and asset tests. The materials point to credible friction risks: higher attrition from paperwork, uneven waiver use by states, and local HUD data shifts that change eligibility thresholds county by county [3] [5] [2]. Monitoring state waiver applications, outreach efforts, and early administrative data will reveal whether the policy changes reduce participation or simply shift program composition [1] [4].