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SNAP Schedule 2023: When December Payments Are Coming

December 4, 2023

3 min Read

Written by Josephine Nesbit

Edited by Cory Dudak

Vesnaandjic / iStock.com

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is an anti-hunger program that provides monthly benefits for low-income people to buy healthy food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the program at the federal level, while individual states operate the program, determining eligibility and issuing benefits to eligible households on a monthly schedule.

The USDA provides information on monthly payment schedules for all states and territories. In most cases, payments are staggered throughout the month based on your SNAP case number, Social Security number or last name. For the most part, benefits are deposited into your SNAP electronic benefits transfer (EBT) account on the same day every month.

On your scheduled payment day, you’ll receive the monthly benefit amount your household qualifies for based on the Thrifty Food Plan, called an allotment. The average benefit payment differs from the maximum allotments, as payments are based on income, household size and where you live.

According to the USDA, SNAP households are expected to spend about 30% of their own resources on food, and your allotment is calculated by multiplying your household’s monthly net income by 0.3 and subtracting the result from the maximum monthly allotment for your household size.

Once you receive your benefits, you can use your EBT card at participating locations, including grocery stores, convenience stores, farmers markets and online retailers.

Here’s the December 2023 SNAP payout schedule for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands: