If I Make $1800 A Month Can I Get Food Stamps?
In this community resource guide I will answer your questions of “if I make $1800 can I qualify for food stamp”?
If you make no more than $1800 per month your budget may be tight after paying for things like housing, utility bills, and health insurance. Getting help with food each month would greatly help you out however you may want to know if your $1800 a month will qualify you for SNAP.
While the answer to this question, is not cut and dry, after reading this article you will know if it’s worth your time to apply for food stamps with a monthly income of $1800.
If I Get $1800 Each Month Can Receive Food Stamps?
You can qualify for food stamps if you make $1800 a month and your household is 2 or more people. If you live alone and your monthly income is $1800, then you will not be able to qualify for SNAP benefits.
This is a black and white answer, but there are more factors that will determine whether or not your $1800 and the situation you are in will qualify for food stamps.
In the following sections, we’ll talk about each factor.
3 Factors That Determine If You Can Qualify For Food Stamps If You Make $1800 Per Month
If you have 2 or more people there is a chance that you can qualify for food stamps if your income does not exceed $1800 per month. That being said there are factors that determine whether or not that monthly income qualifies you for SNAP.
The 3 factors that will help you understand if you can get food stamps with $1800 a month in income are:
- Food stamp income limits
- Your household size
- The state you live in
Keep reading and we will discuss each factor.
1.) Food Stamp Income Limits
The food stamp program has income limits that you cannot exceed to qualify for SNAP benefits. The chart below will list both the gross and net monthly income limits.
| SNAP Household Size | Gross Monthly Income | Net Monthly Income |
| 1 | $1396 | $1074 |
| 2 | $1888 | $1452 |
| 3 | $2379 | $1830 |
| 4 | $2781 | $2209 |
| 5 | $3363 | $2587 |
| 6 | $3855 | $2965 |
| 7 | $4347 | $3344 |
| 8 | $4839 | $3722 |
| Each additional household member. | +$492 | +$379 |
To better understand if your $1800 a month falls under SNAP program income limits, you must understand what gross and net income mean.
Gross Income
Your gross income is the money you have before taxes, health insurance, and other deductions are taken out. Essentially the gross income statement that you see before the government starts deducting money from your check is the gross income.
As you can see from the chart in the previous section, if you are a household of one person, then the most money you can make each month is $1396. If you make $1800 as a single individual then you will not qualify for food stamps.
On the other hand, if you had 1 child and you were a SNAP household of 2, you could potentially qualify. According to the chart above, you would need to make no more than $1888 to fall under the gross income limit for SNAP.
The next test you would need to pass is the net income test. In this scenario, your net income would need to fall under $1452 to qualify for food stamps as a household of 2.
Net Income
If you pass the gross income test, next you will have to fall under the net income requirements. Your net income (in food stamp terms) is the money you have after your food stamp deductions have been taken out.
The things that you can deduct from your gross income to meet net income qualifications include childcare, healthcare, costs of job training, child support, and more. Below is a table of expenses that you can deduct when applying for SNAP.
| Deduction | Description |
| Monthly Bills | These monthly bills can potentially be deducted from your : rent, mortgage, water bills, gas bills, utility bills, phone bills, home insurance, taxes on your home. |
| Dependent Care Costs | The will allow you to deduct things like childcare costs, money spent caring for people in your with disabilities. This also includes senior citizen expenses. |
| Employment/Training Costs | If you are paying tuition or for training programs, this is another cost that you can deduct from the application. |
| The Care Of A Child Outside Your Home | These deductions are things like payments, medical bills, and health insurance that you pay for a child living with an ex-spouse of yours. |
Let’s say you have a household of 2 and you make $1800 per month. You meet gross income requirements for food stamps, but now you need to have deductions that take your net income under $1452. In order to get to the $1452 income level for your household of 2, you can deduct expenses listed in the chart above. If you are able to reduce your $1800 per month to a figure under $1452, then you could potentially qualify for food stamps with a household of 2.
2.) Household Size
The people in your SNAP household also determine whether the $1800 you make a month will help you qualify for food stamps.
If you are a household of one person, then you will not qualify for food stamps with $1800 in monthly income. You can make no more than $1396 if you live alone.
Now, if you have 2 people or more in your food stamp household, the income limits increase. All gross income limits allow you to make $1800 (with a household of 2) and still potentially qualify for SNAP benefits. You will still need to find deductions to drop your net monthly income under those limits.
Essentially the more people in your household, the more money you can make and qualify for SNAP the reason is, you are using your money to feed more people.
3.) The State You Live In Has Different Income Limits For SNAP
The state you live in will also determine whether or not you can get food stamps with $1800 a month in income. Each state has different income qualifications for food stamps.
The gross/net income level chart in this guide provides you with a general idea if you will qualify for food stamps. To get a better idea if it is worth applying for food stamps you can:
- Contact the SNAP hotline at 800.221.5689 to be connected to your state’s SNAP benefits program. There you can learn about income guidelines.
- Visit Benefits.gov and find your state. Once you find your state’s food stamp webpage, you can see the income guidelines.
- Use a tool called the SNAP Eligibility Calculator to see if your $1800 will qualify you for food stamps in your state. Keep in mind, this tool is not an official tool. You can merely get an idea of whether or not your may qualify for SNAP benefits.
Conclusion
If you make $1800 a month and have 2 or more people in your household, you could qualify for food stamps. If you live alone with a monthly income of $1800, you will not qualify for food stamps.
Whether or not $1800 exceeds the food stamp income limit will depend on other factors like the food stamp income limits for gross/net, your household size, and the state you live in.
To learn more about whether or not you can get food stamps on $1800 a month or some other amount you can contact the SNAP hotline at 800.221.5689 or visit Benefits.gov to find your state’s food stamp webpage with their income limits.
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Nick Bryant is the author of Understanding Healthcare Is Half The Battle and a Senior Counselor with 13+ years of experience working in community health and mental health. He enjoys spending time with his family, watching WWE on Friday nights, and working toward a Google Data Analytics certification. If you have additional questions about community resources or government assistance programs, simply leave a comment below and he will follow up as soon as possible.
