Background

This report – part of an annual series – presents 

estimates of the percentage of eligible persons, by 

State, who participated in the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program (SNAP) during an average month in 

fiscal year (FY) 2014 and in the two previous 

fiscal years. SNAP eligibility criteria include 

income and resource guidelines and certain 

nonfinancial criteria.

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, 

historically, the working poor have participated at 

rates that are substantially below those for all 

eligible persons. 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 83 percent in FY 2014

(Farson Gray and Cunnyngham, 2016). The 

participation rate for eligible working poor 

individuals was significantly lower statistically, at 

70 percent.

The participation rates presented here use SNAP 

administrative data to estimate the number of 

participants in each State and Census Bureau 

survey data to estimate the number of eligible 

individuals. The use of different data sources for 

these figures means that there is substantial 

uncertainty associated with estimates for some 

States. In particular, estimated numbers of eligible 

individuals in a given State can approach or equal 

100 percent of the corresponding estimates of 

participants. Users of this report should be 

mindful that this reflects uncertainties in the 

estimates, rather than an “exact” 100 percent 

participation rate, and that these rates are best 

viewed as a measure of how a State’s rate 

compares to the national average.

Findings

SNAP participation rate estimates for all 

eligible persons varied widely from State to 

State in FY 2014. State participation rates ranged 

from a low of 59 percent to a high of 100 percent. 

Twenty-two States had rates that were 

significantly higher than the national rate, and 17

States had rates that were significantly lower.

Some States had consistently high participation 

rate estimates relative to other States. In each 

year from 2012 to 2014, Delaware, Maine, 

Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, 

Washington, and Wisconsin had significantly 

higher participation rates than two-thirds of the 

States.

Some States had consistently low participation 

rate estimates relative to other States. 

California, Kansas, North Dakota, New Jersey, 

Nevada, Texas, and Wyoming had significantly 

lower rates than two-thirds of the States in all 

three fiscal years.

REACHING THOSE IN NEED: ESTIMATES OF STATE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 

PROGRAM PARTICIPATION RATES IN 2014—SUMMARY

Food and Nutrition Service January 2017
Page 2

Participation rate estimates for the working 

poor also varied widely across States. Twentythree States had rates for the working poor that 

were significantly higher than the national rate for 

the working poor, and nine States plus the District 

of Columbia 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. While 

shrinkage estimates are substantially more precise 

than direct sample estimates, the estimated 

participation rates are still based on fairly small 

samples of households in many States. Users of 

these data should take the estimated confidence 

intervals into account when interpreting 

differences between States and 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 

from the State and are not eligible to receive 

SNAP benefits. In the absence of this exclusion, 

about 700,000 SSI recipients would be eligible for 

SNAP under current program rules. 

Every year, the participation rate estimates vary 

slightly from previous reports because the data are 

updated and the regression model variables are 

chosen to best predict the participation rate for all 

3 years. For this reason, the participation rates 

cited in this report are not directly comparable to 

those presented in prior year reports 

(Cunnyngham, 2016).

For More Information

Cunnyngham, Karen (2016). Reaching Those in 

Need: Estimates of State Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program Participation Rates in 2014. 

Prepared by Mathematica Policy Research for the 

USDA Food and Nutrition Service (available 

online at www.fns.usda.gov/research-andanalysis). 

Farson Gray, Kelsey and Karen Cunnyngham

(2016). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program Participation Rates: Fiscal Year 2014.

Prepared by Mathematica Policy Research for the 

USDA Food and Nutrition Service (available 

online at www.fns.usda.gov/research-andanalysis).

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