Background 

This report – the latest in an annual series – 

presents estimates of the percentage of eligible 

persons, by State, who participated in the 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 

(SNAP) during an average month in fiscal year 

2010 and in the 2 previous fiscal years. 

This report also presents estimates of State 

participation rates for eligible “working poor” 

individuals (persons in households with earnings) 

over the same period. Although SNAP provides 

an important support for working families, the 

working poor has participated at rates that are 

substantially below those for all eligible persons. 

The addition of State-by-State information on 

participation among the working poor enables a 

comparison of these rates to the overall 

participation rates. 

Nationally, the SNAP participation rate among all 

eligible persons was 75 percent in fiscal year 2010 

(Eslami, 2012). The participation rate for eligible 

working poor individuals was significantly lower 

(in a statistical sense) at 65 percent. 

Findings 

 SNAP participation rates for all eligible persons 

varied widely from State to State in fiscal year 

2010. State participation rates ranged from a low 

of 55 percent to a high of 100 percent. 

 Twenty-four States had rates that were 

significantly higher than the national rate, and 10 

States had rates that were significantly lower. 

 Some States had consistently high participation 

rates relative to other States in all 3 fiscal years. 

In each year from 2008 to 2010, Iowa, Maine, 

Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, 

and Washington had significantly higher 

participation rates than two-thirds of the States. An 

additional 2 States, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, 

and the District of Columbia had significantly 

higher rates than half of the States. 

Some States had consistently low participation 

rates relative to other States. California, Colorado, 

New Jersey, Nevada, Texas, and Wyoming had 

significantly lower rates than two-thirds of the 

States in all 3 fiscal years. 

 Participation rates for the working poor also 

varied widely across States. Twenty-four States 

had rates for the working poor that were 

significantly higher than the national rate for the 

working poor, and 9 States had rates that were 

significantly lower. 

Methodological Notes 

The State participation rate estimates are derived 

using a statistical approach known as shrinkage 

estimation, developed to improve precision when 

sample sizes are small. Data come from the 

Current Population Survey, American Community 

Survey, and administrative records. Shrinkage 

estimates are substantially more precise than direct 

sample estimates from the Current Population 

Survey. Nevertheless, the estimated participation 

rates are still based on fairly small samples of 

households in many States, and the uncertainty 

associated with these estimates is substantial. 

Users of these data should take the estimated 

confidence intervals into account when 

REACHING THOSE IN NEED: STATE SUPPLEMENTAL

NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

PARTICIPATION RATES IN 2010--SUMMARY

Office of Research and Analysis December 2012
interpreting differences between States, within a 

State over time, and between estimates for all 

eligibles and the working poor. 

The number of eligible persons in California is 

adjusted to reflect the fact that about 1.3 million 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients 

receive a small cash benefit for food assistance 

and are not eligible to receive SNAP benefits. In 

the absence of this exclusion, about half of this 

number of SSI recipients would be eligible for 

SNAP under current program rules. 

Periodically, improvements are made in the 

methods for estimating the direct sample estimates 

of SNAP-eligible persons that are used in the 

shrinkage estimation. The participation rates cited 

in this report are not directly comparable to those 

presented in prior year reports because of some 

improvements to the methodology, which are 

described in Eslami (2012). 

For More Information 

Cunnyngham, Karen E. Reaching Those in Need: 

State Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 

Participation Rates in 2010. Prepared by 

Mathematica Policy Research for the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition 

Service. December 2012. 

Available online at www.fns.usda.gov/ora. 

Eslami, Esa, Joshua Leftin, and Mark Strayer. 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 

Participation Rates: Fiscal Year 2010. Prepared 

by Mathematica Policy Research for the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition 

Service. December 2012. 

Available online at www.fns.usda.gov/ora. 

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