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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a life saver for many families. If you’re a low income earner, the Program gives you the opportunity to shop quality groceries without breaking the bank. You will receive an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, which will allow you access special funds that the Federal government of the USA gives you monthly.
How much SNAP funds or benefits you receive depends on your family size. If you want to apply for the SNAP, we have a post that explains how it works and how to apply. To know how much you will get after a successful application, keep reading to use our SNAP benefits calculator.
How much could you receive in SNAP benefits?
How much SNAP benefits you will receive depends on your family size and your income. The SNAP expects you to spend 30% of your net income to buy food. Your net income is how much money remains when you make deductions from your total received income. For example, taxes and payroll deductions.
Your local SNAP office will do a calculation to determine how much SNAP benefits you will receive. First, they will multiply your household’s net monthly income by 0.3. Then they will subtract the result from the maximum monthly allotment. Your allotment is simply the total amount of SNAP benefits you will receive for each month.
Before we do the calculation, look below. You will find a list of the maximum monthly allotments the SNAP will give you:
- 1 person in the household: receive $281 maximum.
- 2 persons in the household: receive $516 maximum.
- 3 persons in the household: receive $740 maximum.
- 4 persons in the household: receive $939 maximum.
- 5 persons in the household: receive $1,116 maximum.
- 6 persons in the household: receive $1,339 maximum.
- 7 persons in the household: receive $1,480 maximum.
- 8 persons in the household: receive $1,691 maximum.
- For each additional person to the household: $211 or higher.
SNAP benefits calculator
Suppose your net monthly income is $2,750. You will need to multiply it by 0.3 to get 30% of the net income. Your result will be 825.
$2,750 × 0.3 = 825
If you end up getting a decimal figure, round it up until you get a whole number. So if you get 825.5, round up the number to get the whole number 826.
Now, you have gotten 30% of your net income.
Next, subtract the 30% from the maximum allotment of your household size. For example, the maximum allotment is $1,116 for a family of five. Hence, the calculation will be as shown below:
$1,116 — $825 = $291.
If you rounded up the figure earlier into a whole number, the calculation will be as shown below:
$1,116 — $826 = $290.
Your final result is how much SNAP benefits you will receive in a month.
A few things you should know
The amount of SNAP benefits you will receive varies across states in the USA. You may notice that the value of your benefits is higher or lower than the figures you see on this list. If you do, it’s perfectly normal. But feel free to contact your local SNAP office for clarification.
Additionally, SNAP benefits do not expire. There’s no pressure to use all your monthly allotments. The unused balance will rollover to the next month. However, if you don’t touch your benefits for nine months after receiving your card, the SNAP will remove them permanently.
Conclusion
Being part of the SNAP will save you money. You can buy the healthy foods necessary for your survival from your favorite grocery stores. But not every store accepts EBT. If you’re not sure which ones do, read this list of grocery stores that accept EBT online and in-store. You may also find this guide on what you can and can’t buy with your EBT card useful.
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