California EBT eligibility and income limits for CalFresh turn mainly on one number: your household’s gross monthly income has to sit at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level for your household size. For the benefit year running October 2025 through September 2026, that ceiling is $2,610 for a single person and $5,360 for a family of four. You also need to live in the county where you apply, pass a second (net income) test after deductions, and, depending on your age and situation, satisfy work or student rules.
Gross Income Limits for October 2025 Through September 2026
Your gross income is everything you bring in before taxes or deductions. If the total for your household is at or under the figure for your size, you clear the first test:1Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. CalFresh Eligibility Criteria
- 1 person: $2,610
- 2 people: $3,526
- 3 people: $4,442
- 4 people: $5,360
- 5 people: $6,276
- 6 people: $7,192
- 7 people: $8,110
- 8 people: $9,026 (add $918 for each additional person)
Go over the limit for your household size and you are generally out, with one practical workaround: if the county counts fewer people in your household than you expected, a smaller column may apply (see “Who Counts in Your Household” below).
The Net Income Test After Deductions
Clearing the gross test is not enough. Your net income, which is what remains after allowable deductions, must also fall at or below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. That caps a one-person household at $1,330 per month and a four-person household at $2,750.2HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
The county subtracts the following from your gross income before applying the net test:
- A flat 20 percent reduction of earned income (wages and salary)
- A standard deduction that varies with household size
- Shelter costs (rent or mortgage plus utilities) to the extent they exceed half of your adjusted income
- Dependent care costs you pay so you can work, look for work, or attend school
- For households with an elderly or disabled member, out-of-pocket medical expenses above $35 per month
Those deductions matter. A household that looks over the net limit on paper often qualifies once high rent, childcare, or medical bills are factored in.
Who Counts in Your Household
CalFresh defines a household as the people who live together and buy and prepare food together. If you live alone, or if you share a roof but shop and cook separately from your roommates, you are a household of one. Two rules override how you handle meals: spouses living together are always one household, and anyone under twenty-two who lives with a parent or stepparent counts in that parent’s household even if they eat separately.3eCFR. 7 CFR 273.1 – Household Concept
Household size determines which column of the income table applies to you, so being counted correctly can make the difference between qualifying and not.
Residency and Immigration Status
You must live in the California county where you apply, and you can only draw benefits from one county in a given month.4Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. 63-401 Residency You do not need a permanent address. People experiencing homelessness meet the residency requirement by being physically present in the county.
Status drives which program covers you. U.S. citizens and qualified immigrants (including refugees, asylees, and lawful permanent residents who have lived in the country at least five years) qualify for federally funded CalFresh. Non-citizens who are ineligible for federal benefits solely because of immigration status may qualify for the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), a state-funded alternative with the same benefit amounts and the same income rules. CFAP covers lawful permanent residents who have not yet met the five-year or forty-quarter requirement, parolees, conditional entrants, battered immigrant spouses and their children, Cuban-Haitian entrants, victims of severe trafficking, and certain U-visa applicants. Effective June 2026, California is dropping the one-year parole duration requirement for CFAP, so parolees will qualify immediately upon entry.
Assets Usually Do Not Count
California uses Modified Categorical Eligibility, which removes the asset test for almost all applicants. You will not be asked to report bank balances or the value of your car. The exception: if your household includes someone previously disqualified for an intentional program violation, the household loses Modified Categorical Eligibility and becomes subject to a resource limit.
Work Rules That Can Disqualify You
Most adults receiving CalFresh must register for employment services and accept suitable job offers. People who are pregnant, caring for a young child, or unable to work for physical or mental health reasons are exempt from general work registration.
A stricter rule applies to Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs), ages eighteen through fifty-four, who can work and have no children at home. These recipients must work or participate in a qualified training program for at least eighty hours per month. Fall short, and benefits are limited to three months within any three-year window. After those three months are used, you need a thirty-day period of qualifying work or an exemption before benefits can start again.5Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
The Rule for College Students
Students enrolled at least half-time in higher education are generally ineligible for CalFresh unless they meet a specific exemption. If you are enrolled less than half-time, the student rule does not apply and your eligibility is judged on the standard income and household criteria.
Half-time-or-more students qualify by meeting any one of these:
- Working 20 or more hours per week (or 80 hours per month), including on-campus jobs
- Participating in Federal Work-Study and expecting to work during the term
- Receiving a TANF-funded Cal Grant A or B
- Receiving CalWORKs or Tribal TANF
- Caring for a dependent under age six, or under twelve if adequate childcare is unavailable
- Enrolled in a Local Program that Increases Employability (many community colleges and universities offer approved programs)
- Not expecting to enroll the following term
One exemption is enough. Many campus financial aid or basic needs offices keep a list of programs that automatically satisfy the employability exemption, so it is worth asking before assuming you are shut out.
What You Will Actually Receive
Qualifying is one question; the amount is another. The maximum monthly allotment for October 2025 through September 2026 is:6San Francisco Human Services Agency. Check CalFresh Eligibility
- 1 person: $298
- 2 people: $546
- 3 people: $785
- 4 people: $994
- 5 people: $1,183
- 6 people: $1,421
- 7 people: $1,571
Most households receive less than the maximum. The formula assumes you can spend 30 percent of your net income on food, so the county multiplies your net monthly income by 0.30 and subtracts that figure from the maximum allotment for your household size. Zero net income means the full maximum.
What EBT Covers Once You Qualify
CalFresh benefits buy food and food products meant for home preparation: fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, dairy, bread, cereals, snack foods, non-alcoholic beverages, and seeds or plants that produce food for your household.7Food and Nutrition Service. What Can SNAP Buy?
EBT cannot be used for alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or CBD, vitamins or supplements, medicines, hot prepared foods at the register, live animals, pet food, cleaning supplies, or personal hygiene items. The hot-food line catches people most often: a rotisserie chicken under a heat lamp is not eligible, but the same chicken sold cold or frozen is. One narrow exception exists for households where every member is sixty or older, disabled, the spouse of someone who meets those criteria, or experiencing homelessness; those households can use the Restaurant Meals Program to buy prepared meals at participating restaurants. If even one household member falls outside those categories, the whole household is excluded from restaurant purchases.8California Department of Social Services. The CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program