Texas food stamp caseworkers started the month with a new set of numbers. A revision to the Texas Works Handbook, effective October 1, 2026, sets the SNAP standard utility allowance at $464, along with a refreshed list of the other deductions that go into a household’s benefit.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission publishes the figures in its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program section of the handbook, marked Revision 26-4. SNAP is the program many Texans still call food stamps.
The figures the handbook lists for October 1
The handbook tells caseworkers to use these amounts when working out a household’s budget:
- Standard utility allowance (SUA): $464
- Basic utility allowance (BUA): $417
- Telephone standard deduction: $64
- Maximum excess shelter deduction: $769
- Standard medical expense: $170, minus $35
- Homeless shelter standard deduction: $205.66
The same revision updates the income limits. For a one-person household the gross income limit at 130 percent of poverty is $1,729, and the net limit is $1,330.
Is a Texas household’s benefit using the $464?
Not every household gets the biggest allowance. The state’s rule in the Texas Administrative Code says HHSC deducts a standard utility allowance for households that qualify, a basic utility allowance for households with utility expenses that do not qualify for the SUA, and a telephone allowance for households with only a phone expense.
So a Texan on SNAP who wants to know whether $464 is in the math has one question for the caseworker: which of the three allowances is on the budget. The handbook leaves the test for who gets which one to its separate section on deductions, so the caseworker or the HHSC notice is the place to get that answer.
The gap between the three is large. The standard allowance is $47 above the basic one and $400 above the telephone figure, so the label on the budget decides how much utility cost the formula recognizes.
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Why $464 is not a payment
The $464 does not arrive as cash. It is a standard amount that stands in for a household’s real utility bills when the state calculates SNAP. Under Texas Administrative Code section 372.410, HHSC “does not allow a deduction for actual utility expenses.”
That means a Texan whose electric bill runs well above or below $464 still gets the standard figure, not the bill. A larger allowance lowers the income counted against the household, which can raise the benefit. The handbook does not give a dollar effect, because it depends on the rest of the household’s budget.
The $769 shelter cap and the other limits
The allowance feeds into the excess shelter deduction, which is capped. Texas lists the maximum at $769, and Illinois’s human services department says its own maximum excess shelter deduction has increased to $769 as well, which points to a national adjustment rather than a Texas-only change.
The handbook’s income table also lists $2,195 for a one-person household in the column it says applies to categorically eligible households. A household’s rent or mortgage, taxes and insurance count toward the shelter deduction, and utilities are covered by the allowance.
What Texas has and has not said
The handbook shows the October 1 amounts and the revision number. It does not list the previous year’s amounts, and it does not announce a notice to current clients.
That leaves the open question with the case. A household whose recertification or interim change falls after October 1 should find the $464, $417 or $64 figure on its budget, and HHSC’s handbook is the place to confirm the amounts that apply.
Is your Texas SNAP benefit figured right?
A budget that uses the wrong utility allowance, or an old one, can understate a Texas household’s benefit month after month, and the household would never see the difference on a notice. The October 1 revision puts $464, $417 and $64 on the table.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer includes a pack for each of 51 states and a renewal and reporting calendar, so a Texas household can keep its dates and its budget figures in one place when the next recertification comes up.
Get the Texas state pack and reporting calendar from the Renewal Organizer →
More Financial Reading
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- 21 Ways Retirees Can Raise $1,000 Fast Without a Job
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
