How we build this site

Every factual claim on this site — a dollar figure, a household-size threshold, a program effective date, a state-by-state comparison — must trace to an authoritative primary source. The hierarchy we apply, in order:

• Federal authoritative. USDA Food and Nutrition Service publications (BBCE election table, FY-specific SNAP cost-of-living-adjustment memos, ABAWD waiver decisions, official program regulations), the SNAP statute (7 U.S.C. § 2014), and 7 CFR Part 273.
• State authoritative. The state SNAP agency's published materials — DSS / DHHS / HHSC / OTDA / DCF / ODJFS pages, mass-change letters, operations manuals, benefit-rate notices, and ABAWD-implementation guidance.
• Established journalism and research. Reporting from outlets with a track record of fact-checked benefits coverage, plus analyses from the Congressional Research Service, the Government Accountability Office, the National Association of Counties, CLASP, APHSA, and academic centers.

What we don't treat as authority: Wikipedia, anonymous summary blogs, AI-generated summaries from other sites, and undated state-by-state aggregator pages. When two sources disagree, we go to the underlying federal data and link to it.

Comparative claims — anything of the form "X is one of only five states that…" — are verified against the authoritative source data before publication. If a claim can't be supported by the underlying USDA or federal data, the claim is rewritten or removed.

Numeric figures (income limits, asset limits, processing-time deadlines, work-hour thresholds) are checked against the source the figure came from at the time of last review. The deep-dive section on each state page lists its sources at the bottom; the more compact sections (income tables, callouts) are sourced in the research notes that back the seeder. We use both last reviewed dates at the page level and verified on dates on individual time-sensitive blocks so readers can see exactly when each piece of information was last checked.

Every state guide is reviewed at least when one of these events occurs:

• The October 1 federal cost-of-living adjustment, which resets income limits, the maximum allotment, and the standard deduction every fiscal year.
• State or federal legislation that materially changes program rules — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 is the recent example. Implementation dates, exemption changes, and rule narrowings get pushed to the affected state pages and the relevant block carries the new verified on date.
• State-specific events: portal changes, ABAWD waiver expirations, BBCE rule elections, or operational shifts (a new EBT card, a new disaster SNAP activation) that change how an applicant interacts with the program.

Routine reviews happen at least quarterly. Page-level last reviewed dates update when the page is examined end-to-end; block-level verified on dates update when the specific block changes.

If you find an error — a mistyped income limit, a stale phone number, a policy description that's no longer accurate — please report it through the contact form and select "Correction Request" as the subject. Factual errors are corrected promptly, and the affected block's verified on date and the page's last reviewed date are updated when the correction goes live.

For substantive corrections (something that changes a reader's eligibility estimate or application choice), we'll note the change visibly on the page so readers know the correction happened.

SNAP Eligibility Calculator currently has no commercial relationships affecting content. The site does not accept payment to feature, recommend, or rank state agencies, portals, advocacy groups, or third-party tools. There are no affiliate links and no paid advertisements at the time of writing. If that changes — for example, if advertising is added in a future phase — this section will be updated to disclose the relationship and any editorial guardrails in place.

Research and drafting on this site are augmented by AI tools, including large language models used to summarize source documents and propose initial drafts. Every factual claim, numeric figure, and policy interpretation is verified by Alex Bennett against primary sources — USDA Food and Nutrition Service publications, state agency documentation, and federal regulations — before publication. AI is a research aid; it does not make editorial decisions or finalize published content.