April 13, 2026 – The number of people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) dropped by 2.5 million people in the first six months after the passage of major policy changes to the program, a new report concludes.
Nationally, enrollment in SNAP declined by 6 percent between July and December 2025, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). While the administration has celebrated the drop in SNAP participants, the analysis points out that decline is likely due to policy changes rather than less need for assistance.
The CBPP analysis shows that all states have seen a decline in SNAP participation, but it is more pronounced in some states. Arizona, for example, had the largest decrease since July: 47 percent, about 424,000 fewer people.
The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), signed in July 2025, serves as an important marker for SNAP data. The massive tax package included historic cuts to SNAP through changes to work requirements and a shift in costs to states.
One OBBB provision pushes some of the costs of SNAP benefits to states for the first time. The exact rate that states would have to cover will be determined by a state’s error rate, or the amount of under- and overpayments it makes.
Since the OBBB passed, state leaders, anti-hunger groups, and SNAP administrators have warned that states may not be able to absorb these costs. The cost-shift takes effect in fiscal year 2028, starting Oct. 1, 2027, and will be based on fiscal year 2026 error rates, which started October 2025 and will end in September.
Some states are working to rapidly reduce their error rates in anticipation of this shift, increasing the amount of verification documents, which may inadvertently make it more difficult for individuals to access the program, said Joseph Llobrera, a senior director of research at CBPP.
SNAP participation has historically fluctuated, but other economic indicators typically accompany those shifts. For example, in periods of high unemployment, SNAP rates can increase, as well. The CBPP analysis notes that unemployment has gone up slightly over the same period and that food insecurity rates have generally remained high since 2024.
“There’s nothing that indicates that people’s well-being has improved so much that they no longer need that food assistance,” Llobrera said. (Link to this post.)
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