SNAP asset limits for 2026-2027: what counts and which states test

From October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 (federal fiscal year 2027), the federal SNAP asset limit is $3,000 in countable resources, or $4,750 if at least one person in the household is 60 or older or has a disability. The $3,000 figure did not change; the $4,750 figure went up from $4,500 (USDA FY2027 cost-of-living memo, August 21, 2026). Your home, retirement accounts, most cars in most states, and the savings of anyone on SSI or TANF cash assistance do not count. And most people never face this test at all: 41 states and territories use a rule called broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) to drop the asset limit for most households. The test still applies in full in 7 states, and 4 more use their own, higher limit. Indiana’s official sources disagree about which group it belongs to.

The federal limits for FY2027

The same two limits apply in all 50 states, D.C., Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands; unlike income limits, they are not higher in Alaska or Hawaii (USDA memo). The limits are set by 7 CFR 273.8(b) and adjusted each October 1 for inflation, rounded down to the nearest $250. That rounding is why the $3,000 limit can stay the same for several years in a row while the higher limit moves.

“Disabled” here has a specific meaning in SNAP: it includes people who receive SSI or Social Security disability benefits, certain veterans’ disability ratings and other listed groups. The definition and the other rules for older and disabled households are in SNAP for seniors and people with disabilities.

The asset limit is a pass/fail test. Being $1 under it does not change your benefit amount, and being $1 over it makes the household ineligible for that month under regular rules. Benefits themselves are figured from income (how SNAP benefits are calculated).

What counts as an asset

Federal rules call assets “resources” and count two kinds (7 CFR 273.8(c)):

• Liquid resources: cash on hand, money in checking and savings accounts, savings certificates, stocks and bonds, and lump-sum payments.
• Non-liquid resources: vehicles (see the vehicle rules below), buildings, land, recreational property such as a boat or camper, and other property that no rule excludes.

Most non-liquid property counts at its equity value: what it would sell for minus what you still owe on it. Resources you own jointly with someone outside your SNAP household count in full unless you can show they are inaccessible to you. If you can reach only part of the value, only that part counts. If the property cannot practically be split and you need a joint owner’s agreement to sell, and that owner refuses, none of it counts (7 CFR 273.8(d)).

Lump sums count as resources, not income. A one-time payment such as an income tax refund, a back payment of Social Security or SSI, an insurance settlement or a returned security deposit is not counted as income. It is counted as a resource in the month you receive it (7 CFR 273.9(c)(8)). Money cannot be counted as both income and a resource in the same month: your paycheck is income the month it arrives, and whatever is left in the bank afterward is a resource in later months. The federal earned income tax credit has its own rule, below.

What does not count

Federal rules list what is excluded (7 CFR 273.8(e)). USDA’s SNAP eligibility page, updated for October 1, 2026, names the main ones. The full list includes:

• Your home and the land it sits on. It stays excluded if you are away temporarily for work, training, illness or a disaster and plan to return. A lot you are building a home on is also excluded.
• Retirement savings. 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans, traditional and Roth IRAs, the federal Thrift Savings Plan and pension funds. Withdrawals can count as income or as a resource, depending on how often they happen.
• Education and disability savings. 529 college savings plans, Coverdell education savings accounts and ABLE accounts.
• Household goods and personal belongings, such as furniture.
• The cash value of life insurance policies, one burial plot per household member, and one funeral agreement per member.
• Savings of household members who receive SSI or TANF cash assistance. Their resources are not counted toward the rest of the household’s limit. If everyone in the household gets SSI or TANF cash, the household is categorically eligible and has no asset test.
• Property that produces income in line with its value, such as a rental home, and property essential to work, such as a farmer’s land and machinery or a tradesperson’s tools.
• Resources you cannot get to, such as an irrevocable trust, a security deposit held by a landlord or utility, property tied up in probate, and real estate you are actively trying to sell at a fair price.
• Earned income tax credits. A federal EITC is excluded in the month you receive it and the following month. Any federal, state or local EITC is excluded for 12 months if you were getting SNAP when it arrived and stay on SNAP.
• Energy assistance payments and government payments earmarked to repair a home damaged in a disaster.

Excluded money keeps its exclusion if you keep it in a separate account. If you mix it into an account with countable money, most excluded funds stay excluded for six months from the date you combined them; after that, the whole balance counts (7 CFR 273.8(g)).

How cars and other vehicles are counted

Vehicles are where federal rules get technical, and where states differ most. USDA’s eligibility page says plainly that “States determine how vehicles may count toward household resources” (USDA).

Under the federal rules, a licensed vehicle does not count at all if it is (7 CFR 273.8(e)(3)):

• used to earn income, such as a taxi, delivery vehicle, work truck or fishing boat;
• needed for long-distance travel for work, other than a daily commute;
• used as the household’s home;
• needed to transport a physically disabled household member (one vehicle per disabled member);
• needed to haul the household’s main supply of heating fuel or water; or
• worth so little that selling it would bring in $1,500 or less.

For any other licensed vehicle, the state applies two tests and counts whichever amount is higher:

1. Fair market value test. Any value above $4,650 counts.
2. Equity test. Fair market value minus the loan balance. One vehicle per adult is exempt from this test, and so is a vehicle a household member under 18 drives to work, school, job training or a job search.

Unlicensed vehicles generally count at their equity value.

Many states are more generous. Federal rules let a state swap in the vehicle rules of its TANF program when that lowers the amount counted, and a state whose TANF rules ignore vehicles must then ignore all vehicles for SNAP (7 CFR 273.8(f)(4)). In the 41 states and territories with no asset limit for most households, vehicles do not matter for those households at all. Texas has its own rule, explained below.

States with no asset test for most households

BBCE lets a state make a household “categorically eligible” for SNAP because it qualifies for a non-cash benefit funded by TANF, often just a brochure or referral service. The state can then use that program’s income and asset rules instead of SNAP’s. USDA’s BBCE chart, updated June 29, 2026, lists “No limit on assets” for these 41 states and territories:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York (two groups only, see below), North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

“No asset test” does not mean “no limits.” You still have to pass the state’s BBCE gross income limit (anywhere from 130% to 200% of poverty, depending on the state) and the net income test, and get a benefit above zero. The state-by-state income figures are in SNAP income limits.

Two states on that list, and one group of households everywhere, need a closer look:

• New York. The chart lists only two BBCE groups: households with dependent care costs (gross limit 200% of poverty) and households with earned income (150%) (USDA BBCE chart). The state’s SNAP eligibility page says “Most households applying for SNAP no longer have to pass a savings/resource test.” Households outside the BBCE groups can still be held to the federal limits. See New York.
• Iowa. USDA’s chart lists no asset limit, and Iowa HHS’s SNAP manual chapter on resources (revised September 27, 2024) says resource limits “do not apply to categorically eligible households.” But Iowa Code section 239.4, passed in 2023, directs an asset test, and section 239.1 sets the household limit at $15,000, not counting one vehicle and the first $10,000 of a second vehicle’s value. These official sources disagree about whether Iowa applies the $15,000 test. If you have savings in Iowa, ask HHS which rule it used in your case. See Iowa.
• Households with a disqualified member, in every state. Federal rules say no household can be categorically eligible if a member is disqualified for an intentional program violation, the head of household is disqualified for not meeting work requirements, or a member is barred for a drug-related felony, for fleeing a felony warrant or for violating probation or parole. Those households face all the regular rules, including the $3,000 or $4,750 asset limit (7 CFR 273.2(j)(2)(vii)). Florida, for example, applies the federal limit to these households and to elderly or disabled households with income above 200% of poverty.

States that keep an asset test

Notes on this table:

• Indiana. USDA’s June 2026 BBCE chart lists Indiana with a $5,000 asset limit, and one line of Indiana’s own About SNAP page says “Most households are limited to $5,000 in resources.” Another passage on the same page gives the federal $3,000 and $4,750 limits. The page does not say which applies, and it says all vehicles used for household transportation are exempt. If you live in Indiana, ask the Division of Family Resources (1-800-403-0864) which limit it applies to your case.
• Texas vehicles. Texas does not count the first $22,500 of fair market value of the household’s most valuable countable vehicle, or the first $8,700 of each other countable vehicle. Only the value above those amounts is added to cash and bank balances and compared with the $5,000 limit (handbook revision effective April 1, 2024). USDA’s chart gives $22,000 for the first vehicle; the state handbook says $22,500.
• Arkansas also uses a 165% gross income limit for elderly or disabled households and 130% for others (USDA BBCE chart).
• Stale figures on state pages. Some state pages still show the FY2026 senior limit of $4,500. For example, South Dakota’s SNAP page still said $4,500 when checked on October 16, 2026. The federal figure for applications from October 1, 2026 is $4,750.

Older and disabled households in no-asset-test states

BBCE “cannot limit eligibility”: a household that does not qualify through BBCE can still get SNAP under the regular federal rules (USDA BBCE chart). Under those regular rules, a household with a member who is 60 or older or disabled skips the gross income test and only has to pass the net income test, but it does face the $4,750 asset limit.

So an older or disabled household with income above its state’s BBCE gross limit can still qualify, as long as its net income is low enough and its countable resources are $4,750 or less. That matters most in the BBCE states with a 130% gross limit (Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina, per the chart), where many retirees on Social Security cross the BBCE line.

Worked examples with FY2027 figures

1. Family of three in Ohio with $8,000 in savings. Ohio’s BBCE has no asset limit and a gross income limit of 130% of poverty (USDA BBCE chart). The FY2027 130% limit for three people is $2,960 a month. The family earns $2,500 a month: $2,500 is under $2,960, so they qualify through BBCE. The $8,000 is not looked at. They still need to pass the net test, and their benefit is figured from income.

2. Older couple in Alabama above the BBCE income line. Both are 67. Their Social Security totals $2,500 a month. Alabama’s BBCE gross limit is 130%, which is $2,345 for two people in FY2027. $2,500 is over $2,345, so they do not qualify through BBCE. Under regular rules they skip the gross test and face the net test (100% of poverty, $1,804 for two) and the $4,750 asset limit. Suppose that after the standard deduction ($217), medical costs over $35 and housing costs, their net income is under $1,804. If they have $4,200 in a savings account and $40,000 in an IRA, they pass: $4,200 is under $4,750 and the IRA is excluded. If the savings account held $6,000, they would be over the limit by $1,250.

3. Family of three in Texas with two cars. Savings: $3,400. Car 1 is worth $24,000; car 2 is worth $7,000. Under the Texas rule, car 1 adds $24,000 - $22,500 = $1,500. Car 2 is under $8,700, so it adds nothing. Countable total: $3,400 + $1,500 = $4,900, which is under Texas’s $5,000 limit. Under the federal $3,000 limit, the savings alone would have been too much.

4. Single adult in a state with the federal test, such as Kansas. Checking account: $1,900. One car, owned outright, worth $7,000, used to commute. Under the federal vehicle rule the car is exempt from the equity test (one vehicle per adult), but the fair market value test counts $7,000 - $4,650 = $2,350. Total: $1,900 + $2,350 = $4,250, over the $3,000 limit by $1,250. This is the federal rule only. Many states use more generous TANF vehicle rules, so ask your state agency how it values cars before you assume the car disqualifies you.

Timing, gifts and lottery wins

When it is checked. Resources are compared with the limit when you apply and at each renewal, and the agency can ask for proof such as bank statements. Federal rules do not let you avoid the test by giving assets away: an application asks about anything transferred in the previous three months, and a household that knowingly gave away or transferred resources to qualify can be barred for up to one year. Selling something at a fair price, moving money between members of the same household, and transfers that would not have put you over the limit anyway do not trigger this (7 CFR 273.8(h)). Texas sets the length of its bar by how far the transfer put you over: from one month for less than $250 over, up to 12 months for $5,000 or more (Texas Works Handbook A-1212.1).

Lottery and gambling winnings. A household loses SNAP immediately if any member wins $4,750 or more in a single game before taxes, in FY2027. This threshold equals the elderly/disabled asset limit and applies to every household, including those in no-asset-test states. The household must report the win and stays ineligible until it meets the regular federal asset and income limits again (7 CFR 273.11(r); USDA memo). If several people shared the ticket, only the SNAP member’s share counts.

Fast help depends on cash, too. Even in a no-asset-test state, the amount of cash and bank money you have decides whether you get expedited SNAP within 7 days. One way to qualify is gross monthly income under $150 with liquid resources of $100 or less. Another is income plus liquid resources that add up to less than your monthly rent or mortgage plus utilities (7 CFR 273.2(i)). See how to apply for SNAP.

If you are over the limit

• Check what you counted. Retirement accounts, the home, 529 and ABLE accounts, life insurance cash value, and an SSI or TANF recipient’s own savings do not count. Many people over-count.
• Look at your vehicle under your state’s rules, not the federal $4,650 figure, which many states do not use.
• Apply anyway if you are unsure. You can file with just your name, address and signature, and the state must decide within 30 days. A denial notice has to explain the reason, and you can ask for a fair hearing if you think the agency counted something it should not have (SNAP denied: fair hearings).
• Ask about BBCE. In a BBCE state, if you were denied for assets, ask whether you were screened for categorical eligibility. Getting it can depend on whether your income is under the state’s BBCE line.

Your state’s page on this site gives its program name, agency, application portal and income rules. Start from all states.

Sources

• SNAP – Fiscal Year 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustments, memo dated August 21, 2026, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 2026-10-16.
• SNAP Eligibility, USDA, information for October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027. Checked 2026-10-16.
• SNAP Special Rules for the Elderly or Disabled, USDA. Checked 2026-10-16.
• Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE), USDA, page updated June 29, 2026. Checked 2026-10-16.
• 7 CFR 273.8, Resource eligibility standards, eCFR, up to date as of 2026-10-14.
• 7 CFR 273.9, Income and deductions, eCFR, up to date as of 2026-10-14.
• 7 CFR 273.2, Office operations and application processing, eCFR, up to date as of 2026-10-14.
• 7 CFR 273.11, Action on households with special circumstances, eCFR, up to date as of 2026-10-14.
• SNAP Quick Reference Guide, Arkansas Department of Human Services, page updated October 13, 2026. Checked 2026-10-16.
• Apply for SNAP, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Checked 2026-10-16.
• About SNAP, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. Checked 2026-10-16.
• Employees’ Manual Title 7, Chapter D: SNAP Resources, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, revised September 27, 2024. Checked 2026-10-16.
• Iowa Code section 239.1 and section 239.4, Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026. Checked 2026-10-16.
• SNAP: Do I qualify?, New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. Checked 2026-10-16.
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, South Dakota Department of Social Services. Checked 2026-10-16.
• Texas Works Handbook A-1210, General Policy and A-1220, Limits, Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Checked 2026-10-16.