Food stamp participation, which the government calls SNAP, shrank in 52 of the 53 states and territories in the latest federal count. Texas lost 683,838 people between July 2025 and July 2026, and Florida lost 629,600. Only Alaska added people, and nationwide the rolls fell by more than 5.5 million.
What does the USDA count show nationally?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s state-by-state participation table, current as of October 9, puts July 2026 enrollment at 36,087,667 people. A year earlier the figure was 41,603,048, a drop of 13.3%.
Alaska is the single exception. Its count rose from 67,168 to 69,522, an increase of 3.5%. The table covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands; Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas receive Nutrition Assistance Grants instead and are not in it.
Which states lost the most people?
Texas and Florida had the largest raw losses among the states, going from 3,446,051 to 2,762,213 and from 2,849,239 to 2,219,639. Arizona was next at 448,578 fewer people, and Illinois followed at 407,079 fewer.
By share of caseload, seven states lost more than a fifth of their participants:
- Arizona: down 50.8%, from 882,419 to 433,841 people.
- Louisiana: down 23.3%, from 800,046 to 613,661.
- Nevada: down 23.3%, from 485,581 to 372,587.
- Oklahoma: down 22.5%, from 689,393 to 534,590.
- Florida: down 22.1%.
- Nebraska: down 21.9%, from 149,429 to 116,703.
- Illinois: down 21.6%, from 1,887,917 to 1,480,838.
Texas fell 19.8%, just under that line.
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For anyone who gets SNAP, the table raises the obvious question of why so many households came off and what keeps a case open at renewal. The shift comes after a federal law that took effect last July expanded work requirements, barred some immigrants and moved more administrative cost onto states, according to a June report from GV Wire. A household can lose benefits at renewal over a late form or a missing document, so the renewal date and the paperwork list matter as much as the rules.
Why did the rolls drop so sharply?
That report says the law cut SNAP funding by $187 billion, about 17%, over 10 years, and extended work requirements into areas that once had waivers for high unemployment. States that miss certain performance standards face penalties starting in October 2027. More than 4.7 million people nationwide had lost SNAP since the law took effect, based on USDA data through March 2026, about 11% of participants.
Arizona’s 50.8% decline is the steepest. GV Wire reports that Arizona moved faster than other states to apply the federal changes, according to two SNAP experts and the state’s Department of Economic Security, and the state now requires documents such as pay stubs or leases to avoid penalties tied to its error rate. Katie Bergh, a senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said longer waits stem partly from stricter vetting, with applicants unable to get through “on the overloaded phone line.”
What do the figures leave out?
USDA marks June and July 2026 data as preliminary and “subject to significant revision.” The table counts people receiving benefits in a month. It does not say why any one person left, and it does not separate people who found work or income that ended their eligibility from those who were dropped over paperwork.
It also shows a mixed picture month to month. Between June and July 2026 the national count slipped 1.2%, while Arizona rose 3.0%, Tennessee rose 1.2% and Missouri rose 1.6%. Nebraska fell 6.1% in that single month and North Dakota fell 6.4%.
How does someone keep SNAP through a renewal?
USDA’s SNAP page is the starting point for each state’s rules, and each state agency sets its own recertification date and document list. The common thread in the Arizona reporting is paperwork: pay stubs, leases and a reachable phone line.
Whether a given household is still on the rolls next July comes down to a renewal notice, and that date is one a household can write down now.
Keeping SNAP through the next renewal date?
With 5.5 million fewer people on the rolls than a year ago, a missed renewal notice or a late pay stub is exactly how a household ends up among them, and Arizona’s added documentation rules show how quickly a state can tighten what it asks for.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer includes 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar, so each date is written down before the notice arrives. It also has a renewal document checklist and a section on the SNAP work-rule time limit and who is exempt.
Get the SNAP renewal organizer with the 51 state packs and reporting calendar →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
