CalFresh Income: What Counts and What Doesn’t

For CalFresh, income is almost any cash your household receives in a month, whether earned from work or received as a benefit, but a long list of exclusions and deductions can lower the number the county actually uses. Understanding what counts as CalFresh income, and what doesn’t, is often the difference between qualifying and being told you’re over the limit. For the federal fiscal year running October 2025 through September 2026, a single-person household qualifies with gross monthly income at or below $1,696, and a family of four at or below $3,483.

How CalFresh Looks at Your Income

Most households face two tests. Gross income is everything countable your household receives before any deductions. Net income is what’s left after allowable deductions like the earned income deduction and shelter costs. The gross limit is 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level under California’s Modified Categorical Eligibility, which also waives the asset test, so savings and vehicle value generally don’t disqualify you.¹ The net limit is 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. For FFY 2026, net monthly income limits are:²

1 person: $1,305
2 people: $1,763
3 people: $2,221
4 people: $2,680
5 people: $3,138
6 people: $3,596
7 people: $4,055
8 people: $4,513
Each additional person: +$459

Households with an elderly or disabled member who meet the gross income test only have to meet the net income test; the gross ceiling doesn’t apply to them.³

Earned Income That Counts

Earned income is money you get for working. CalFresh counts gross wages, salaries, tips, and commissions. If you hold more than one job, all earnings are combined.⁴

Self-Employment

If you work for yourself, CalFresh counts net profit, not everything that comes in. You have two ways to figure it. You can subtract your actual verified business costs from your gross receipts, or you can take a flat 40 percent standard deduction and skip the paperwork. Pick whichever leaves you with lower countable income.⁵

If you go with actual expenses, allowable costs include supplies, materials, workspace rent, equipment, labor paid to non-household members, business transportation (not commuting), and the business portion of home expenses when you regularly work from home. Costs must be current and billed or due during the period being counted.

Unearned Income That Counts

Unearned income covers cash you receive from sources other than working:⁶

Social Security retirement, survivor, and SSDI payments. If part of your check is withheld to repay an overpayment, only the reduced amount counts; if withheld for any other reason, the full pre-reduction amount counts.
SSI and the State Supplementary Payment, both fully counted as unearned income since June 2019.⁷
Unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation, both temporary and permanent.
State disability payments and payments from any private disability plan.
Pensions and annuities, public or private.
Child and spousal support received by the household, including pass-through payments and the first $100 per month.
Veterans’ benefits, including Aid and Attendance.
Regular cash contributions from people outside your household.

CalWORKs, General Assistance, and other need-based public assistance also count as unearned income. Receiving other aid doesn’t automatically disqualify you, but those dollars are added into the calculation.

Income That Doesn’t Count

Several categories are excluded entirely. For households sitting near the income limit, these exclusions can be decisive.

Non-Cash and In-Kind Help

Anything you receive in a form other than cash is excluded. Free meals, donated clothing, garden produce, free housing, WIC, and similar in-kind help are not income.⁸ The line is between the thing and the money. If someone gives you diapers, that’s excluded. If someone gives you cash to buy diapers, the cash counts.

Lump Sums and Tax Refunds

One-time, nonrecurring payments are excluded from income. That includes income tax refunds, insurance settlements, retroactive Social Security or SSI payments, security deposit refunds, and rebate checks.⁸ They may be counted as a resource in the month received but don’t inflate your monthly income figure. Earned Income Tax Credit payments are also excluded, whether received as a refund or in advance.

Student Financial Aid

For students, most financial aid is excluded. Pell Grants, Cal Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, federal work-study earnings, and student loans with deferred payments all fall outside countable income. Work-study is treated as part of the aid package rather than employment earnings.⁹ Private scholarships and grants are excluded when used for qualifying educational expenses like tuition, fees, books, and supplies.

Energy Assistance and Disaster Relief

Federal energy assistance payments, including LIHEAP, are excluded. Federal disaster relief, and comparable state or local disaster assistance, are also excluded.¹⁰

Foster Care Payments

Foster care payments are excluded only when the foster child isn’t included in your CalFresh household. If you include the child as a household member, the payment counts as unearned income. Families sometimes have a choice, and the math can go either way depending on household size and the payment amount.¹⁰

Small, Irregular Amounts

Small unpredictable income is excluded if it totals $30 or less per calendar quarter and comes in too irregularly to anticipate. An occasional odd job might fit; anything recurring will be counted regardless of amount.⁸ Cash donations from nonprofit charitable organizations are separately excluded up to $300 per calendar quarter.

Deductions That Lower Countable Income

Once CalFresh adds up what counts, several deductions come off the top. Claim every one that fits your household.

Standard Deduction

Every household gets a standard deduction based on size. For FFY 2026, it’s $209 per month for households of one to three, $223 for a household of four, with higher amounts for larger households.³ It’s applied automatically.

Earned Income Deduction

Twenty percent of your household’s gross earned income comes off before the income tests. If your household earns $2,000 per month from jobs, $400 is deducted and $1,600 counts. The deduction doesn’t apply to earnings already excluded, like work-study.⁴

Dependent Care

If you pay for childcare (for a child under 18) or for care of an incapacitated household member so someone in the household can work, look for work, or attend training, the actual cost is deductible. Allowable costs include provider fees, co-payments for subsidized care, and transportation to and from the care facility. There’s no cap.¹¹

Shelter and Utilities

Housing is usually the biggest deduction, and the one households most often leave money on the table with. The shelter deduction covers the portion of housing costs that exceeds half of your adjusted income (income after other deductions). Countable costs include rent or mortgage, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and utilities. California uses a Standard Utility Allowance of $663 per month for FFY 2026 instead of tracking actual bills; a household that pays heating or cooling separate from rent qualifies for the full SUA.¹² For households without an elderly or disabled member, the excess shelter deduction is capped at $744 per month for FFY 2026. Households with an elderly or disabled member face no cap.¹³

Medical Expenses for Elderly or Disabled Members

Households with a member 60 or older, or who receives disability benefits, can deduct non-reimbursed medical expenses over $35 per month. Qualifying costs include prescription and practitioner-approved over-the-counter medications, insurance premiums, dental care, hearing aids, prosthetics, transportation to appointments, and service animal costs.¹⁴ A standard medical deduction of $150 applies when verified expenses fall between $35.01 and $185 per month, so you don’t need to pin down the exact amount in that range. If actual expenses exceed $185 and you can verify them, you deduct the full amount above $35 instead.¹⁵

Child Support Paid Out

If a household member is legally obligated to pay child support to someone outside the household, that payment is deductible. Payments on arrears qualify too. Alimony does not.¹⁶

Putting It Together: A Worked Example

Here’s how the pieces combine for a working family of four with one child in daycare, using FFY 2026 numbers:

Gross monthly income: $2,800 in wages
Earned income deduction (20%): −$560
Standard deduction: −$223
Dependent care: −$400 (actual daycare cost)
Adjusted income: $1,617
Half of adjusted income: $808.50
Total shelter costs: $1,500 rent + $663 SUA = $2,163
Excess shelter: $2,163 − $808.50 = $1,354.50, capped at $744
Net monthly income: $1,617 − $744 = $873

That $873 net sits well under the $2,680 limit for a four-person household, so the family qualifies. The lower your net income, the higher your monthly benefit.³

A Note on Reporting Changes

Once you’re receiving CalFresh, you don’t have to report every small income swing. Between semi-annual reports, you’re only required to report three things within 10 days: your total monthly household income exceeding your assigned Income Reporting Threshold (a dollar amount your county sets and sends you in writing), a change of address, and certain criminal justice changes.¹⁷ If a new source of money arrives mid-period, check whether it’s countable under the categories above before assuming it needs to be reported.

1
California Department of Social Services. CalFresh Modified Categorical Eligibility Fact Sheet
2
Food and Nutrition Service / USDA. SNAP Fiscal Year 2026 Income Eligibility Standards
3
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
4
California Department of Social Services. Chapter Four – Eligibility Basics
5
Santa Clara County Social Services Agency. Earned Income
6
Santa Clara County Social Services Agency. Unearned Income
7
Los Angeles County DPSS. 63-502.14 Unearned Income
8
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.9 – Income and Deductions
9
California Department of Social Services. Regulation Quick Reference – Students
10
Los Angeles County DPSS ePolicy. 63-502 Income Definition, Exclusions and Deductions
11
DPSS ePolicy. 63-502 Income Definition Exclusions and Deductions
12
California Department of Social Services. All County Information Notice I-46-25
13
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Maximum Allotments and Deductions FY 2026
14
Alameda County Social Services Agency. 63-05.33 CalFresh Medical Deductions for the Elderly and Disabled
15
Santa Clara County Social Services Agency. CalFresh Update 2024-11 Standard Medical Deduction
16
California Department of Social Services. The Treatment of Child Support Arrearages in the Food Stamp Program
17
California Department of Social Services. Reporting Changes for Cash Aid and CalFresh