Safety-Net Programs | Simon&Co., LLC

State by State Analysis of the SNAP Administrative Cost Shift

Patrick Butler — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 18:10:00 +0000

Over 2/3’s of States Will Not Close the Gap

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), the federal share of SNAP administrative costs for states will be reduced by 50% from 50% to 25% of the total, requiring states to cover 75% of SNAP administrative costs starting October 1, 2026, the start of federal fiscal year (FFY) 2027. The USDA estimated in its Regulatory Impact Analysis that federal administrative spending on the SNAP program will decrease by about $16.9 billion over FFYs 27 to 31 and assumes the shift will have a negligible impact on SNAP benefit spending and participation. In other words, USDA assumes that administration spending will be absorbed by states with no effect on low-income SNAP recipients including how quickly states process applications.

Nearly 70% of states (37 states) that have increased their SNAP administrative funding in response to the law are still below the USDA’s estimated annual increase in state spending for SFY 27. Nine states still have not increased their SNAP administrative funding for SFY 27 (19%), while two states and territories have made increases, the amount of which is unclear due to lack of information from the state government. See full analysis below.

SNAP Administrative Cost Shift Analysis Download

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Only 20% of States Will Avoid Assuming a Portion of SNAP Benefits’ Costs for the First Time

Patrick Butler — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 19:54:25 +0000

On June 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) state payment error rates for FY 25. The error rate measures how accurately states calculate SNAP benefits. This includes under- and over-payments to program recipients. For FY 25, the national payment error rate is 10.62%, a decrease of .31% from FY 24, which still far exceeds the newly enacted congressional threshold of 6%. Fiscal penalties and mandatory cost-sharing for states below the 6% error rate will begin on January 1, 2027, under H.R. 1. In addition, on October 1, 2026, for the first time, states will be required to pay an additional $2.7 billion per year in administrative costs for SNAP due to the administrative cost shift made in H.R. 1.

Only 10 states and territories had an error rate below 6% in FY 25, while 43 had error rates above the 6% threshold. About half of all states and territories improved their error rates since FY 24, with the largest improvements in New Jersey (-7.47%), Kentucky (-4.41%) and North Carolina (-2.85%). States with the largest increase in error rates since FY 24 include Hawaii (+4.24), Delaware (+3.63) and Minnesota (+3.6). Please see the full SNAP Error Rate Table comparing FY 25 and FY 24 rates below.

SNAP Error Rate Data Table FY 25 Download

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A Month is a Long Time to Wait for a Meal: New USDA Data Shows Only One State Processes the Required Number of SNAP Applications Within One Month

Patrick Butler — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:19:00 +0000

While many are focused on SNAP error rates, there are still long-standing issues with application timeliness processing (APT) rates that measure the percentage of applications processed within federal deadlines (30 days for standard applications and 7 days for expedited services). The USDA considers an APT rate of 95% or higher to be acceptable, while rates below 90% are considered untimely and may trigger federal intervention. If states consistently fail to meet the timeliness standard, they may be required to submit a Corrective Action Plan. In Fiscal Year 2024, only one state (Wisconsin) had an APT rate above 95% and only 12 states had an APT rate above 90%.

SNAP APT Rate FY 24 Download

The post A Month is a Long Time to Wait for a Meal: New USDA Data Shows Only One State Processes the Required Number of SNAP Applications Within One Month appeared first on Simon&Co., LLC.