EBT deposit schedule by state: when SNAP benefits arrive each month

Every state deposits SNAP once a month, on the same day each month, but the day depends on where you live and which number or letter the state uses to sort cases. Alaska pays everyone on the 1st. Most states spread payments over part of the month: the 1st to the 10th in California (outside Los Angeles County), the 1st to the 13th in Arizona, the 4th to the 23rd in Alabama, the 1st to the 28th in Texas and Florida. Your day is set by a digit of your case number, your Social Security number or your client ID, or by the first letter of your last name. Federal rules require the state to tell you your date (7 CFR 274.2(d)). The table below gives each state’s rule. Your state page has the full day-by-day chart and the official source.

Your first payment after approval is different. It usually arrives off schedule and is smaller, because it covers only the days from your application date to the end of that month. Both points are explained below, with FY2027 figures.

Deposit schedules by state

Each state name links to its page. There you will find the full table of digits or letters and the day each one is paid, plus the official page or manual it comes from and the date it was checked.

The federal rules every state follows

States set their own schedules, but within limits set by USDA regulation 7 CFR 274.2 (eCFR text up to date as of October 14, 2026):

• One deposit a month. A state may not split your ongoing monthly benefit into more than one issuance a month. The exceptions are benefit corrections and residents of drug and alcohol treatment programs (274.2(c)(1)).
• The same day each month. “All households shall be placed on an issuance schedule so that they receive their benefits on or about the same date each month.” The state must set an availability date and inform you of it (274.2(d)).
• Staggering is allowed. A state “may stagger issuance throughout the month, or for a shorter period” (274.2(d)(1)).
• No more than 40 days between deposits. Once you have received benefits for more than two full months in a row, no more than 40 days may pass between two monthly deposits (274.2(d)(1)). If a state moves you to a new schedule, the same 40-day limit applies. If the gap would be longer, the state must split the new deposit in two: one part within the 40 days, the rest on your new date (274.2(d)(3)).
• Tribal reservations. If the tribal government asks, the state must stagger issuance on the reservation over at least 15 days a month (274.2(d)(2)).

The rules do not say what happens when your date falls on a weekend or a holiday. Each state decides, and many do not say. Florida’s policy manual says food benefits are issued over the first 28 calendar days “including weekends and holidays” (Florida ESS Policy Manual, chapter 3200). Arkansas lists fixed calendar dates and gives no weekend exception (SNAP Certification Manual Appendices, October 2, 2026). If your state page does not say, assume the calendar date and check your balance that morning.

How to find your deposit day

States sort households in four ways. Look for the number or letter on your approval notice or your state’s online account.

A digit of your case number or client ID. This is the most common method. California’s EBT Project says its schedule follows your case number, not your EBT card number (California EBT Project). The digit is the last one: a case ending in 5 is paid on the 5th, and 0 is paid on the 10th (Orange County Social Services Agency). Alabama uses the last two digits, five per day, from 00-04 on the 4th to 95-99 on the 23rd (Alabama DHR issuance schedule). Georgia uses the last two digits of the head of household’s client ID (Georgia SNAP Policy Manual 3810). Florida uses the eighth and ninth digits of the Florida case number, not the last ones (chapter 3200). Read your state’s rule closely: “last digit”, “last two digits” and “eighth and ninth digits” give different answers for the same number.

A digit of a Social Security number. Arkansas uses the last digit of the recipient’s SSN. Digits 0 and 1 are paid on the 4th and 9 on the 13th (Arkansas Appendix BB). The Arkansas page has the full chart, and the Colorado page explains Colorado’s SSN-based schedule.

The first letter of a last name. Arizona pays two letters a day after your first month, from A-B on the 1st to Y-Z on the 13th (Arizona DES Nutrition Assistance FAQ). Delaware pays one or more letters a day, from A on the 2nd to X, Y and Z on the 23rd (Delaware EBT cardholder site). The District of Columbia also uses letters. When several people are on a case, the state pages say whose last name counts where the state states it: see Arizona, Delaware and District of Columbia.

One day for everyone. Alaska deposits benefits “on the FIRST calendar day of every month” (Alaska Quest card brochure). See Alaska.

Some states use more than one rule. California’s schedule applies “in all California counties, except Los Angeles County” (California EBT Project). In Texas, the Texas Works Handbook pays households from the 1st to the 28th by the last two digits of the EDG number. But households certified before May 1, 2023, keep the schedule they already had, unless they have a break in benefits of at least six months and reapply after that date (Texas Works Handbook B-251). Two Texas neighbors with similar case numbers can be paid on different days.

Schedules can change

A state can move everyone to a new schedule. Connecticut did so in 2026. Until February 2026, DSS paid SNAP over the first three days of the month by last name. From March 1, 2026, it pays from the 1st to the 8th by the last two digits of the client ID, as Public Act 24-82 required. DSS says it chose March because February is the shortest month, so the move would be shorter for families (Connecticut DSS). During a change like this, the 40-day rule protects you: if your new date would leave more than 40 days since your last deposit, the state must pay part of the benefit early (7 CFR 274.2(d)(3)).

Texas applies the same limit to new cases. Its handbook says SNAP “cannot be issued more than 40 days after the previous issuance,” and households approved more than 40 days before their scheduled day have an “initial issuance adjustment period” until their deposits line up with the schedule (Texas Works Handbook B-251).

Your first payment: off schedule and prorated

The regular schedule starts after your first month. Federal rules say “the date upon which a household receives its initial allotment after certification need not be the date that the household must receive its subsequent allotments” (7 CFR 274.2(d)). In practice, the first deposit posts soon after the case is approved:

• Alabama: the day after DHR enters it (Alabama DHR).
• Arkansas: Appendix BB says benefits authorized through daily issuance become available the same day at 9 p.m. Central time. Another page of the same manual says the next day at 12:01 a.m. (Appendix BB).
• Texas: by 8 a.m. Central time the day after the case is approved, or within one hour for priority issuances such as expedited cases (Texas Works Handbook B-253).
• Florida: new and expedited approvals are left out of the staggered schedule for the first month (chapter 3200).

Deadlines. If you are eligible, the state must give you an active card, a PIN and spendable benefits within 30 days of the date you filed. A card or PIN mailed on the 29th or 30th day does not meet that deadline. If you qualify for expedited service, benefits must be available by the seventh calendar day after you applied (7 CFR 274.2(b)). For who qualifies, see how to apply for SNAP.

Proration. Your first month’s benefit covers only the days from your application date to the end of the month (7 CFR 273.10(a)(1)(ii)). Each state uses one of two formulas. One treats every month as 30 days long: full benefit × (31 − application date) ÷ 30. The other uses the real length of the month: full benefit × (days in month + 1 − application date) ÷ days in month. The result is rounded down to the whole dollar. If it comes to less than $10, nothing is paid for the first month (273.10(a)(1)(iii)).

Worked example: a household of three that applies on October 12, 2026

The FY2027 maximum benefit for three people in the 48 states and D.C. is $808 (USDA FY2027 COLA memo). Take a household with no net income, so its full monthly benefit is $808.

• 30-day state: $808 × (31 − 12) ÷ 30 = $808 × 19 ÷ 30 = $511.73, rounded down to $511.
• Actual-days state: October has 31 days. $808 × (31 + 1 − 12) ÷ 31 = $808 × 20 ÷ 31 = $521.29, rounded down to $521.

From November, the household gets the full $808 on its scheduled day.

Worked example: when the first month pays nothing

A one-person household with a full monthly benefit of $100 applies on September 29 in a 30-day state. $100 × (31 − 29) ÷ 30 = $6.67. That is under $10, so no benefit is paid for September. The first deposit is October’s full $100.

Applying after the 15th: two months in one deposit

If you apply after the 15th, your first deposit may cover two months. For households that get expedited service, apply after the 15th and are eligible for both the first month and the next, federal rules require a combined allotment: the prorated first month plus the first full month, paid within the 7-day expedited deadline. For other households who apply after the 15th, states may choose to combine the two (7 CFR 273.2(g)(2) and (i)(3)). Texas, for example, says the prorated amount and the next month “may be issued as one deposit” (B-251).

Using the same household of three with a full benefit of $808, applying on October 20, 2026, in a 30-day state and approved for expedited service:

• October, prorated: $808 × (31 − 20) ÷ 30 = $808 × 11 ÷ 30 = $296.27, rounded down to $296.
• November, full month: $808.
• One combined deposit: $296 + $808 = $1,104.

The household’s next deposit is December’s $808 on its scheduled day. Nothing more arrives in November, because the November benefit was already paid. This is the most common reason a new household thinks its second payment is “missing.”

Why a deposit can look late

Before you call, check these causes.

1. It is the first full month. Your regular day may fall later than the date of your first deposit. If your first payment covered two months, the next one comes the month after. See the example above.
2. Benefits post at a set time of day, not at midnight everywhere. Arkansas credits monthly SNAP at 12:01 a.m. Central time (Appendix BB). Florida deposits “once a day, by 6 am” (Florida DCF EBT page).
3. Cash and food benefits run on different schedules. Many states put TANF cash on the same card on a different schedule. Texas pays TANF over the first three days of the month but SNAP from the 1st to the 28th (B-251). Connecticut pays cash on the 1st and SNAP from the 1st to the 8th (Connecticut DSS). Florida pays cash over the first three business days (chapter 3200). See EBT cash vs SNAP food benefits.
4. Your certification period ended. If you completed your renewal on time, the state must decide by the end of your certification period and pay you “by the household’s normal issuance cycle” the next month (7 CFR 273.14(d)). If the renewal was late or incomplete, benefits stop until it is processed. If you finish within 30 days after the period ends, the state reopens the case, but benefits are paid only from the date you completed the missing step, not for the whole month (273.14(e)). See SNAP recertification.
5. Your benefits were taken off-line. If your account has had no purchase or return for three months (91 days) or longer, a state may store the benefits off-line. It must send you a notice, and it must restore the benefits within 48 hours after you contact it or reapply (7 CFR 274.2(h)).
6. Your state changed its schedule, as Connecticut did in March 2026. Check for a notice.

If none of these explains it, check your balance (see how to check an EBT balance), then follow what to do when SNAP benefits are late or missing.

Benefits carry over, but not forever

Unused SNAP stays on the card from month to month. Purchases use the oldest benefits first. Benefits are removed (expunged) after nine months (274 days). Each state uses one of two rules for all its households: either benefits are removed once the account has had no activity for 274 days, or each month’s benefit is removed 274 days after it was issued, even if you use the card. The state must warn you at least 30 days before removal begins (7 CFR 274.2(i)).

Georgia uses the inactivity rule: after nine months with no activity, benefits are removed one month at a time, oldest first, and “any client-initiated debit or credit” restarts the 274-day count (Georgia SNAP Policy Manual 3805). Florida also counts from the last purchase (chapter 3200). A few state documents give a longer period than nine months. Each state page notes what that state’s own sources say.

Using your deposit date to protect your benefits

USDA’s advice on stolen benefits: “Change your PIN at least once a month, right before your benefit issuance date” (USDA, Addressing Stolen SNAP Benefits, updated September 8, 2026). The District of Columbia DHS says the same: “change your PIN every month before benefits are issued” (DC DHS, Protect Your Benefits). Federal replacement of skimmed SNAP ended for thefts after December 20, 2024. That makes the hours right after your deposit the time to watch most closely. See EBT skimming and stolen benefits.

Sources

• 7 CFR 274.2, Providing benefits to participants, eCFR, up to date as of October 14, 2026 (checked 2026-10-16)
• 7 CFR 273.10, Determining household eligibility and benefit levels, eCFR (checked 2026-10-16)
• 7 CFR 273.2, Office operations and application processing, eCFR (checked 2026-10-16)
• 7 CFR 273.14, Recertification, eCFR (checked 2026-10-16)
• SNAP Fiscal Year 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustments, USDA memo, August 21, 2026
• Addressing Stolen SNAP Benefits, USDA (page updated September 8, 2026; read via the agency’s CDN copy)
• Nutrition Assistance FAQs, Arizona DES (checked 2026-10-16)
• Delaware EBT cardholder site, Delaware DSS and Conduent (checked 2026-10-16)
• Using Your Quest Card, Alaska Division of Public Assistance (checked 2026-10-16)
• Protect Your Benefits, DC Department of Human Services (checked 2026-10-16)
• Texas Works Handbook B-250, EBT Benefit Issuance, Texas HHSC, B-251 revision 23-4, effective October 1, 2023 (checked 2026-10-16)
• Benefit Issuance: When will my benefits be available?, California EBT Project (checked 2026-10-16)
• Frequently Asked Questions About Electronic Benefits Transfer, Orange County Social Services Agency (checked 2026-10-16)
• EBT Issuance Schedule, Food Assistance (SNAP), Alabama DHR (checked 2026-10-16)
• SNAP Certification Manual Appendices, October 2, 2026, Arkansas DHS (checked 2026-10-16)
• The dates when DSS issues SNAP and Cash benefits are changing, Connecticut DSS (checked 2026-10-16)
• ESS Program Policy Manual, chapter 3200: Benefit Issuance, Florida DCF (checked 2026-10-16)
• Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Card, Florida DCF (checked 2026-10-16)
• SNAP Policy Manual 3805: Electronic Benefits Transfer and 3810: Issuance, Georgia DHS (checked 2026-10-16)