States Most Affected by SNAP Expiring

More than 41 million Americans won’t get federal help buying groceries in November unless Congress reopens the government.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is out of money, according to the Agriculture Department. 

SNAP funding totaled more than $7.8 billion in May 2025, the last month for which data is available.

Nearly half of that went to seven large-population states.

California drew the largest share at more than $1 billion. New York got $647 million, and Texas received $614 million. 

The next highest amounts went to Florida, $536 million; Illinois, $368 million; Pennsylvania, $368 million; and Ohio, $356 million.

Those states got 49 percent of SNAP funds in May 2025 and served about 49 percent of those receiving benefits.

Big states will lose the most money, but some smaller states will lose funds that help a larger share of their population. 

About 12 percent of Americans receive SNAP benefits. 

Several states and the District of Columbia have higher-than-average participation in SNAP.

New Mexico has the highest rate. Twenty-one percent of its people receive food assistance. 

The District of Columbia is next with 20 percent, followed by Oregon with 18 percent participation. Louisiana and Oklahoma at 17 percent each.

About 15 percent of the population receives SNAP benefits in West Virginia, Nevada, and Michigan.

Leaders in both political parties have blamed the other for the impending loss of food aid. But any loss of SNAP benefits will affect the constituencies of both parties similarly.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are both Democrats from New York, a state with higher-than-average participation in SNAP. The Empire State also gets the second-highest total in SNAP funding. 

House Majority Leader Mike Johnson and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise are both Republicans from Louisiana, where 17 percent of the population receives SNAP assistance. That’s 5 points above the national average. 

What about Red vs Blue states? They come out about the same.

Those that went for Trump in 2024 had a combined rate of SNAP participation of 12 percent, exactly average.

States that voted for Kamala Harris had a similar rate: 13 percent. 

Contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular SNAP benefits, according to the Trump administration. 

So without congressional action, there’ll be no SNAP funds on Saturday. 

—Lawrence Wilson

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