Skipping the gross income test is the difference between an application that is rejected on the first screen and one that is actually calculated.
A SNAP household that includes a member aged 60 or over, or a member with a disability, does not have to pass the gross income test at all, and can deduct medical expenses above $35 a month from its countable income, under the special rules published by the USDA Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA). For a one-person household that means the only income ceiling is $1,305 of net monthly income; the $1,696 gross limit that stops other applicants does not apply.
Two tests, and who faces only one
Most households must clear two hurdles: a gross income test set at 130% of the federal poverty level, and a net income test set at 100% of poverty after deductions. Gross income is money before any deductions; net income is what remains after the standard deduction, shelter costs above a threshold and other allowable subtractions.
Households with an elderly or disabled member face only the net test. The rule is set out on the FNA page for elderly and disabled special rules. That single exemption is what lets a household with modest gross income but heavy medical and housing costs qualify when it otherwise could not.
The medical deduction above $35
The second advantage is the medical expense deduction. An elderly or disabled household member’s out-of-pocket medical costs above $35 a month can be deducted from income. Because the test that matters is the net one, every dollar deducted moves the household closer to eligibility and, once eligible, raises the monthly allotment.
It is worth remembering that this only works if the costs are reported and documented. A household that never mentions its prescription, dental or transport costs is assessed as though it had none.
The FY2026 income limits
These figures apply in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia through September 30, 2026, and come from the USDA FY2026 SNAP cost-of-living memo. Gross limit first, then net limit, by household size:
- 1 person: $1,696 gross / $1,305 net
- 2 people: $2,292 / $1,763
- 3 people: $2,888 / $2,221
- 4 people: $3,483 / $2,680
- 5 people: $4,079 / $3,138
- 6 people: $4,675 / $3,596
- 7 people: $5,271 / $4,055
- 8 people: $5,867 / $4,513
The maximum monthly allotment over the same period is $298 for one person, $546 for two and $994 for a household of four, with a minimum benefit of $24 for one- and two-person households. The standard deduction is $209 for households of one to three, and the shelter cap is $744.
SSI, resources and categorical eligibility
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) interacts with SNAP in two ways that matter. An SSI recipient’s resources are not counted for SNAP purposes, and a household in which every member receives SSI can be categorically eligible — that is to say, treated as meeting the financial tests without a separate resource calculation.
Likewise, age and disability bring an exemption from the ABAWD time limit. Following Public Law 119-21, the three-months-in-36 rule now reaches ages 18 to 64, but exemptions remain for people 60 and over, people with a physical or mental limitation, pregnant people and households with a child under 18.
Why it goes unclaimed
The gross income test is the first screen most applicants meet, and it is the one that turns people away before anything else is examined. A retiree living on $2,085.98 a month — the average retired-worker Social Security benefit in July 2026 — reads a $1,696 gross limit and concludes there is no point applying. For a household with an elderly or disabled member, that limit is simply not the applicable test.
Nationally, 37,298,271 people in 20,328,528 households received SNAP in March 2026, at an average of $189.18 per person a month. FY2027 figures take effect on October 1, 2026 and have not yet been published; FNA posts them on its SNAP allotment page when they are ready.
