SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) covers most food and drinks you’d find in a grocery store, including fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread, cereals, snack foods, and non-alcoholic beverages. For fiscal year 2025, the maximum monthly benefit ranges from $292 for a single person to $1,756 for a household of eight in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.
What You Can Buy With SNAP
The basic rule is simple: if it’s a food or drink product meant for human consumption and it’s not hot at the point of sale, SNAP almost certainly covers it. That includes fresh produce, frozen meals, canned goods, bakery items, cooking oils, spices, and cold deli items. Soft drinks, candy, chips, and other snack foods are eligible too. There’s no restriction on buying organic, name-brand, or specialty foods.
One lesser-known benefit: SNAP also covers seeds and edible plants that produce food for your household. You can buy tomato seedlings, herb starts, or vegetable seeds at any SNAP retailer, including farmers’ markets.
What SNAP Does Not Cover
The exclusions fall into a few clear categories:
- Alcohol and tobacco: Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, and all tobacco products.
- Hot prepared foods: Anything sold hot at the point of sale, like a rotisserie chicken or a slice of pizza from a hot case. The same chicken sold cold or frozen would be eligible.
- Vitamins, supplements, and medicines: The key indicator is the label. If a product carries a “Supplement Facts” label rather than a “Nutrition Facts” label, it’s not eligible. This disqualifies most protein powders, energy shots, and vitamin-fortified shakes.
- Cannabis and CBD products: Any food or drink containing controlled substances, including CBD-infused items.
- Non-food items: Pet food, cleaning supplies, paper products, soap, shampoo, cosmetics, and feminine hygiene products are all excluded, even though many grocery stores sell them.
- Live animals: With narrow exceptions for shellfish, fish removed from water, and animals slaughtered before pickup.
The Supplement Facts Label Rule
This trips people up more than almost anything else. Whether a drink or powder qualifies for SNAP has nothing to do with whether it seems like “food.” It comes down to labeling. Products with a Nutrition Facts panel (the standard label on most packaged foods) are eligible. Products with a Supplement Facts panel are not. Many energy drinks, protein shakes, and meal replacement powders carry Supplement Facts labels, making them ineligible. If you’re unsure, flip the container around before you get to the register.
Online Grocery Shopping With SNAP
SNAP online purchasing is now available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. You can use your EBT card to buy eligible food items through participating online retailers. The USDA maintains an interactive map on its website where you can look up which stores accept SNAP online in your state.
One important limitation: SNAP benefits cannot pay for delivery fees, service charges, or convenience fees of any kind. You’ll need another payment method to cover those costs, or choose free pickup options where available.
Restaurant Meals Program
In most cases, SNAP can’t be used at restaurants. But a special Restaurant Meals Program operates in nine states: Arizona, California, Illinois (Cook and Franklin Counties only), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
Eligibility is limited. Every member of your SNAP household must fall into at least one of these categories: age 60 or older, disabled, or experiencing homelessness. Spouses of qualifying members also qualify. If you meet the criteria and live in a participating state, you can use your benefits at approved restaurants to buy prepared meals.
Hot Food During Disasters
The ban on hot prepared foods can be temporarily lifted during emergencies. When the president issues a disaster declaration for individual assistance, a state can request a waiver allowing SNAP households to buy hot, ready-to-eat meals for a set period. This recognizes that people displaced by hurricanes, floods, or other disasters may not have a working kitchen.
How Much SNAP Provides
Your actual benefit amount depends on household size, income, and allowable deductions. The maximum monthly allotments for fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 through September 2025) in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. are:
- 1 person: $292
- 2 people: $536
- 3 people: $768
- 4 people: $975
- 5 people: $1,158
- 6 people: $1,390
- 7 people: $1,536
- 8 people: $1,756
- Each additional person: +$220
Benefits are higher in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to reflect higher food costs. A single person in urban Alaska, for example, can receive up to $377, and in rural Alaska up to $586.
Most households receive less than the maximum. The program calculates your benefit by subtracting 30% of your countable income from the maximum allotment for your household size, based on the assumption that households can contribute about a third of their income toward food.
Asset and Work Requirements
To qualify, your household’s countable resources (bank accounts, some vehicles) must fall below $3,000, or $4,500 if at least one member is 60 or older or has a disability. Many states have broadened eligibility by not counting certain assets, so the practical limits vary.
Adults ages 18 to 54 who are able to work and don’t have dependents face additional requirements. Known as ABAWDs (able-bodied adults without dependents), they must work, participate in a training program, or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to receive SNAP beyond three months in a three-year period. Exemptions exist for people who are pregnant, experiencing homelessness, veterans, unable to work due to a physical or mental limitation, former foster youth under 25, or those who have someone under 18 in their household.