No state has a statewide waiver of the food stamp work time limit this quarter. Twelve states keep partial waivers that cover only certain areas: Alaska, Arizona, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Wisconsin. That is the picture in USDA’s waiver status list for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, which is current as of Oct. 1, 2026.
The same list shows 41 jurisdictions with no waiver at all, a group that includes Guam, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. In those places the time limit applies everywhere. In the 12 partial-waiver states, whether it applies depends on the county or area where a person lives.
The time limit is the rule that cuts off SNAP for adults without dependents who are able to work. Under the USDA work requirements page, anyone it covers who does not work or take part in a work program for at least 80 hours a month loses benefits after three months in a three-year period. People in a waived area are not on that clock while the waiver lasts.
Whether the clock is running for a given household turns on the area and on the exceptions. The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer covers the SNAP work-rule time limit and who is exempt.
Get the work-rule time limit and exemptions guide for a partial-waiver area →
What the quarter’s list does and does not mean
“Partial” is the key word. A partial waiver covers named areas inside a state, and the status list does not mean every resident of California, New York, Michigan or New Jersey is excused from the three-month limit. A household in a county outside the waived area is on the clock like anyone in a state with no waiver.
A waiver also pauses only the time limit. USDA’s waiver page says that an ABAWD time limit waiver, using the agency’s term for able-bodied adults without dependents, does not waive the general SNAP work requirements. Those are separate rules, such as registering for work and not quitting a job without cause.
Who the time limit reaches after the 2025 law
The group the limit covers is wider than it was a year ago. A USDA implementation memo dated Oct. 3, 2025 says individuals aged 18 to 64 are now subject to the time limit, up from 18 to 54, with the change effective July 4, 2025, when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act became law.
The memo also changes the exception for children. The dependent-child exception now applies to children under 14 years of age, where it used to apply to those under 18. Adults whose children are 14 to 17 now face the limit unless another exception fits.
Three exceptions that Congress added in 2023 were removed: homeless individuals, veterans, and people 24 or younger who were in foster care on their 18th birthday. The law added exceptions for people the memo calls an Indian, an Urban Indian or a California Indian, as defined in federal law.
Why the list matters this quarter
The list is labeled for a single quarter, the first of fiscal 2027. Households in Alaska, Arizona, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Wisconsin should treat the Oct. 1 list as a snapshot of this quarter only. The state SNAP office is the one that knows which counties are covered and tells recipients how the limit is being counted for them.
Checking whether a home area is waived
The free route starts with USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration site, where the ABAWD waiver status lists are posted. Find the state on the list, then read which areas are named. If a county is named, the household is in a waived area for this quarter. If the state is on the list but the county is not, the time limit applies there.
The state’s notice letter is the other place to look. A household that gets a notice about the three-month limit should check it for the area, the exception used and the date the months started counting. Anyone who believes an exception fits, such as a child under 14 in the household or a health limit on working, should say so to the caseworker and ask for the exception to be recorded.
USDA’s list, as of Oct. 1, 2026, says no state has a statewide waiver and 41 jurisdictions have none at all, so for most of the country the limit is already in force.
For tracking which months are counting and when reports are due, The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer adds a renewal and reporting calendar and 51 state packs to its guide on the SNAP work-rule time limit and who is exempt.
Get the Organizer to keep a SNAP work-rule month count and exemption notes →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the USDA documents linked above.
