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41 states at risk of losing federal SNAP funds, new data shows: What to know
(NEXSTAR) β Dozens of states are going to have to start forking over more money to fund SNAP (or end up cutting food assistance) if they donβt get their error rates in check.
With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill last year, the Trump administration put states on notice: If they donβt get their error rates under control, theyβll lose partial federal funding for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps), starting with the 2028 fiscal year.
The target is an error rate under 6%, but few states are meeting that benchmark. In fact, in the latest batch of data released in June, there were more states with double the target rate than states that fell under it.
The error rate refers to the percentage of SNAP benefits paid either above or below what people should have received, primarily because of mistakes. It includes overpayments and underpayments, but overpayments are more common.
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States with error rates higher than 6% will be required to start paying between 5% and 15% of benefit costs in October 2027. Those with higher error rates generally must pay more, but states with especially high mistake rates will have an extension as late as 2030 to comply.
In the 2025 fiscal year, only nine states fell under the 6% error rate: Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The national average error rate is about 11%.
The vast majority of states are above the target, and some far exceed it. Most of them have just one more year to get their acts together. Last yearβs error rate was the first to count. Federal law says states can choose to use either their 2025 or 2026 error rates when determining what percentage of SNAP benefits they must pay starting in October 2027.
