Texas Food Stamps Income Limits by Household Size

Texas food stamps income limits by household size run from $2,152 a month for a single person up to $7,446 for a family of eight, with $757 added for each additional member. These are gross monthly income caps set at 165% of the federal poverty level, and they apply from October 2025 through September 2026. If your household’s total income before taxes and deductions sits below the cap for your size, you clear the first eligibility screen.

Monthly Gross Income Limits for Texas SNAP

Texas uses broad-based categorical eligibility, a federal option that raises the standard SNAP gross income cutoff from 130% of the poverty level to 165%.¹ That higher ceiling lets more working families qualify than the baseline federal rule would.

Current monthly gross income limits, effective through September 30, 2026:

1 person: $2,152
2 people: $2,909
3 people: $3,665
4 people: $4,421
5 people: $5,177
6 people: $5,934
7 people: $6,690
8 people: $7,446
Each additional person: add $757

If your household’s gross income exceeds the figure for your size, you don’t qualify, regardless of how high your rent or medical bills run. The one exception involves households where every member receives Supplemental Security Income; those households skip the gross income test entirely and only need to meet the net income standard.²

Who Counts as One Household

A SNAP household is everyone who lives together and buys and prepares food together. Everybody in that unit has their income added to the total that gets measured against the limit above. Roommates who shop and cook separately can apply as separate households. Spouses and children under 22 living with their parents are always counted as one household, even if they buy food separately.

What Counts as Income

Texas looks at nearly every dollar flowing into the household. Earned income covers wages, salaries, tips, and net self-employment earnings. Unearned income covers Social Security, disability payments, unemployment insurance, pensions, and child support received.

A few things stay out of the count. Energy assistance payments like LIHEAP don’t count. Most educational loans and grants used for tuition and fees are excluded. Disaster relief and certain one-time lump sums also don’t count. These carve-outs exist so that temporary or targeted help doesn’t knock a family over the limit when they still can’t afford groceries.

Deductions That Lower Your Countable Income

Clearing the gross income test is only the first step. The state then subtracts allowable deductions to arrive at your net income, and both the net figure and your benefit amount depend on what you can deduct. A household sitting just above a comfortable net income because of high rent or childcare costs may still receive meaningful benefits.

Standard deduction: $209 a month for households of one to three, $223 for four, $261 for five, and $299 for six or more.
Earned income deduction: 20% of wages and self-employment earnings is automatically excluded. A household earning $3,000 a month effectively starts its net income calculation at $2,400.
Dependent care: out-of-pocket costs for childcare or care of a disabled household member when needed for work or training.
Shelter costs: when rent, mortgage, property taxes, utilities, and insurance exceed half your income after other deductions, the excess counts. The shelter deduction is capped at $744 a month, with no cap if the household includes someone elderly or disabled.
Medical expenses: for elderly or disabled members only, unreimbursed medical costs above $35 a month.
Child support: legally owed child support payments you actually make.

Texas uses a standard utility allowance rather than requiring itemized bills. That flat amount folds into the shelter calculation.³

The Resource Limit

Beyond income, Texas checks assets. Your household’s countable resources, meaning liquid assets like cash and bank balances plus any excess vehicle value, cannot top $5,000.⁴ That’s higher than the baseline federal limits of $3,000 for most households and $4,500 for households with an elderly or disabled member, because Texas adopted modified rules under its categorical eligibility policy.³

Retirement accounts, your home, and personal belongings generally don’t count.

How Vehicles Are Counted

Vehicle rules trip up more applicants than almost any other part of the SNAP calculation. Texas doesn’t exempt one car per household member. Instead, the state exempts up to $22,500 in fair market value for your highest-valued vehicle, and up to $8,700 for each additional vehicle. Only the portion above those thresholds counts toward the $5,000 resource cap.⁴

A family with a $20,000 truck and a $7,000 sedan has zero excess vehicle value. If that truck were worth $30,000 instead, the $7,500 above the $22,500 threshold would count toward the cap.

Special Rules That Can Override the Income Test

Three situations change how the income limits apply.

Able-bodied adults without dependents. If you’re 18 to 64, physically able to work, and have no dependent children, federal law classifies you as an ABAWD. You must work, train, or volunteer at least 20 hours a week to keep benefits beyond three months in any 36-month window.⁵ Pregnancy, disability benefits, caring for an incapacitated household member, or living in a county without SNAP Employment and Training services can exempt you. Texas does not currently waive these requirements statewide.

College students. Students enrolled at least half-time in college, university, or vocational school are not eligible by default, even if their income fits under the cap. To qualify, a student must meet an exemption: working 20+ hours a week in paid employment, participating in federal or state work-study, caring for a child under 6, receiving TANF, being under 18 or 50 or older, or being a single parent enrolled full-time with a child under 12. Students who get most of their meals through a campus meal plan are ineligible regardless. Enrollment below half-time removes the restriction entirely.⁶

All-SSI households. As noted above, if everyone in your household gets SSI, the gross income test doesn’t apply at all.

How Much You’ll Actually Receive

Qualifying is one thing; the benefit size is another. The maximum monthly allotments for Texas:

1 person: $298
2 people: $546
3 people: $785
4 people: $994
5 people: $1,183
6 people: $1,421
7 people: $1,571
8 people: $1,789
Each additional person: add $218

Only households with zero net income get the full maximum. For everyone else, the state multiplies your net monthly income by 30%, the share you’re expected to contribute to food, and subtracts that from the maximum for your household size. What’s left is your monthly benefit.¹

1
Texas Health and Human Services. SNAP Food Benefits
2
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.9 – Income and Deductions
3
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
4
Texas Health and Human Services. Texas Works Handbook A-1210 – General Policy
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 2015 – Eligibility Disqualifications
6
Food and Nutrition Service. Students