Twenty-one states and territories posted SNAP payment error rates of 10% or higher for fiscal 2025, which puts each of them in the top bracket of the cost-sharing system created by the 2025 budget law. Under that bracket a state pays 15% of its own SNAP benefits, starting as soon as October 1, 2027.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the figures on June 24, 2026. Its announcement puts the national payment error rate for fiscal 2025 at 10.62%, “far surpassing the congressional threshold of 6%.” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the numbers are “further proof that state accountability is severely lacking in SNAP.”
The 21 states and territories at 10% or higher
The USDA’s fiscal 2025 table lists these jurisdictions, from highest to lowest: Alaska at 23.15%, the District of Columbia at 18.66%, New Mexico at 16.81%, Delaware at 16.00%, Georgia at 15.21%, Illinois at 14.67%, Oregon at 14.14%, New York at 13.18%, Maryland at 13.08%, Florida at 12.97% and Minnesota at 12.58%.
The rest are Massachusetts at 12.49%, Rhode Island at 12.42%, Virginia at 12.32%, Guam at 11.70%, Oklahoma at 11.04%, California at 10.93%, Hawaii at 10.92%, Maine at 10.81%, Arizona at 10.80% and Colorado at 10.09%. That is 21 in all.
The question for a SNAP household in one of those places is whether the state will tighten paperwork, verification or reporting to pull its error rate down before the bill comes due. Caseworker mistakes and household reporting mistakes both count as errors, so the pressure usually lands on renewals and mid-year reports. The free source for the full table is the USDA’s payment error rate page.
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How the 5%, 10% and 15% shares work
The USDA says states will be responsible for covering “5%, 10%, or 15% of their states’ benefits,” and that the share rises with the error rate. A Ballotpedia summary of the brackets puts them this way: below 6% the federal government keeps paying everything, 6% to 8% means the state pays 5%, 8% to 10% means 10%, and above 10% means 15%.
In the USDA table, 6 states fall in the 5% bracket: Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington and West Virginia. Sixteen sit in the 10% bracket: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
The 10 jurisdictions that would pay nothing
Ten jurisdictions came in under 6%: Idaho at 3.85%, Iowa at 5.34%, Kentucky at 4.70%, Nebraska at 5.90%, South Dakota at 2.47%, Utah at 5.54%, Vermont at 5.38%, the Virgin Islands at 5.36%, Wisconsin at 5.72% and Wyoming at 3.96%. South Dakota has the lowest rate in the country.
Officials in some higher-rate states have said they are working on it. Ballotpedia reports that New Mexico’s Niki Kozlowski said reducing the payment error rate is her division’s top priority, and that New Jersey’s Stephen Cha said his department was putting protocols in place to cut payment errors.
Why “as soon as” October 2027
The USDA says the shares begin “as soon as Oct. 1, 2027,” and “in most cases.” That date is the start of federal fiscal year 2028. For that year a state may choose its 2025 or 2026 error rate, according to Ballotpedia, so a state that cuts errors in fiscal 2026 could land in a lower bracket than the one in the table above.
A second rule can push the start later. States with exceptionally high rates, where the rate times 1.5 exceeds 20%, or 13.34%, can postpone the cost share, Ballotpedia reports, with implementation pushed as far as fiscal 2030. In the USDA table, Alaska, the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois and Oregon are above that line.
Will your state’s SNAP renewal rules change before October 2027?
A state facing a 15% bill has a reason to ask SNAP households for more documents at renewal and to flag late reports quickly, and a missed renewal date can end benefits even when the household still qualifies. The USDA table shows 21 places where that pressure is highest, and 16 more in the 10% bracket.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer includes 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar, with a renewal document checklist, so each household has its state’s dates and papers in one place before a notice arrives.
Get the state pack and renewal calendar from the SNAP Renewal Organizer →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
