SNAP Benefits – Households Receiving SNAP (ACS)
This indicator reports the estimated percentage of households receiving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. This indicator is relevant because it assesses vulnerable populations which are more likely to have multiple health access, health status, and social support needs; when combined with poverty data, providers can use this measure to identify gaps in eligibility and enrollment.
Source
Source Description
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities with reliable and timely social, economic, housing, and demographic data every year. The ACS has an annual sample size of about 3.5 million addresses, with survey information collected nearly every day of the year. Data are pooled across a calendar year to produce estimates for that year. As a result, ACS estimates reflect data that have been collected over a period of time rather than for a single point in time as in the decennial census, which is conducted every 10 years and provides population counts as of April 1. The Census Bureau combines 5 consecutive years of ACS data to produce estimates for geographic areas with fewer than 65,000 residents. These 5-year estimates represent data collected over a period of 60 months. Because the ACS is based on a sample, rather than all housing units and people, ACS estimates have a degree of uncertainty associated with them, called sampling error. In general, the larger the sample, the smaller the level of sampling error. Data users should be careful in drawing conclusions about small differences between two ACS estimates because they may not be statistically different.
For more information about this source, including data collection methodology and definitions, refer to the American Community Survey data user’s website.
Methodology
Population counts for household program participation and total household data are acquired from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Data represent estimates for the 5-year period 2019-2023. Mapped data are summarized to 2023 census tract boundaries. This indicator is a measure of household-level SNAP participation based on survey response about “receipts of food stamps or a food stamp benefit card in the past 12 months” by one or more household members. Area statistics are measured as a percentage of total occupied households based on the following formula:
For more information on the data reported in the American Community Survey, please see the complete American Community Survey 2023 Subject Definitions.
Data Breakouts Available
- Households Receiving SNAP Benefits by Race/Ethnicity, Total
- Households Receiving SNAP Benefits by Race/Ethnicity, Percent
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