Texas SNAP Benefits Eligibility: Income, Resources, and Work Rules

To be eligible for SNAP benefits in Texas, your household must live in the state, meet citizenship or qualified immigration status rules, fall under the income and resource limits set by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and satisfy work requirements if they apply to you. For a single person, gross monthly income must be $2,152 or less; for a family of four, the ceiling is $4,421. Countable resources like cash and bank accounts must stay under $5,000. Most working households will not hit the resource limit, and deductions for housing, childcare, and other costs often bring people who look over the income line back under it.

Who Counts as Your Household

SNAP tests income against your entire household, so figuring out who belongs in it is the first step. A household is everyone who lives together and regularly buys and prepares food as a group. Roommates who share groceries count as one household even if they are not related. Someone living in the same home who buys and cooks food entirely separately can sometimes be treated as a separate household, but the state looks at these claims closely.

Income Limits for 2026

Texas uses broad-based categorical eligibility, which sets the gross income ceiling at 165% of the Federal Poverty Level rather than the 130% used in some other states.¹ Your household must also pass a net income test at 100% of the Federal Poverty Level after allowable deductions. The limits below apply from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026:

1 person: $2,152 gross / $1,305 net
2 people: $2,909 gross / $1,763 net
3 people: $3,665 gross / $2,221 net
4 people: $4,421 gross / $2,680 net
Each additional person: add $757 gross / $459 net

Gross income is everything your household brings in before taxes or deductions. Net income is what remains after allowable deductions are subtracted, and it determines both eligibility and your benefit amount. Households where every member receives TANF or SSI may be categorically eligible and skip the income tests entirely.²

Deductions That Lower Your Countable Income

The gap between gross and net income is where deductions do the heavy lifting. Several can drop your countable income enough to push you under the eligibility threshold.³

Standard deduction of $209 per month for households of one to three people. Larger households receive a higher standard deduction.²
Earned income deduction of 20% of all gross wages and self-employment income, subtracted automatically.³
Actual out-of-pocket dependent care costs for childcare or care of a disabled adult, including transportation to and from a care program.
Legally obligated child support paid for a person outside your SNAP household.
For households with a member who is 60 or older or has a disability, unreimbursed medical costs above $35 per month.⁴
Excess shelter costs above 50% of income after the other deductions, up to $744 per month. Households with an elderly or disabled member have no cap on this deduction.⁵

These deductions stack. A working single parent paying rent and childcare could see their countable income drop well below their gross pay, which is how someone earning close to $2,000 a month can still qualify.

Resource and Vehicle Limits

Texas sets a single resource limit of $5,000 for all SNAP households, whether or not the household includes elderly or disabled members.⁶ Countable resources include cash, checking and savings account balances, and other liquid assets. This figure is higher than the standard federal limits because Texas uses broad-based categorical eligibility.⁷

Vehicles are treated separately. Texas exempts the fair market value of your highest-valued vehicle up to $22,500, and only value above that counts toward the $5,000 resource limit.⁸ A vehicle is fully excluded regardless of value if it is used as your home, used primarily to earn income, needed to transport a disabled household member, or if your household has less than $1,500 in equity in it. Most families’ personal cars will not count against them at all.

Residency, Citizenship, and Social Security Numbers

You must physically live in Texas to receive SNAP through HHSC. Workers verify residency through documents like utility bills or lease agreements. U.S. citizens and qualified non-citizens are eligible, and qualified non-citizens include lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, and certain other immigration categories.

You also need a Social Security number, though a few situations are exempt: children under six months old, people eligible for expedited benefits, and undocumented household members who are not applying for themselves.⁹ A mixed-status family can apply on behalf of eligible members without every person in the home providing a number.

Work Requirements

Texas requires most adults receiving SNAP to register for work and accept suitable employment if offered. Stricter rules apply to able-bodied adults without dependents, known as ABAWDs. You are an ABAWD in Texas if you are between 18 and 64, able to work, and have no dependents under 14.¹⁰ ABAWDs who do not meet the work requirement can receive SNAP for only three months in any three-year period.

To keep benefits past that three-month window, you must work or participate in a qualifying program for at least 80 hours a month. That can be paid employment, unpaid volunteer work, enrollment in a SNAP Employment and Training program, or another federal, state, or local work program. A combination of work and program participation that totals 80 hours also satisfies the requirement.¹¹

Who Is Exempt

You are excused from both general work registration and the ABAWD time limit if any of the following apply:¹⁰

You are responsible for a child under age six.
Someone in your household needs help caring for themselves.
A physical or mental disability prevents you from working.
You are pregnant.
You are already receiving unemployment benefits.

The College Student Rule

Students enrolled at least half-time in a college, university, or vocational school are generally ineligible for SNAP unless they fit into a specific exemption. This trips up applicants who assume low income alone qualifies them. To receive benefits as a half-time or full-time student, you must meet at least one of these conditions:¹²

Working 20 or more hours per week in paid employment
Participating in federal or state work-study
Caring for a child under 6
Single parent enrolled full-time with a child under 12
Receiving TANF cash assistance
Placed in college through a SNAP Employment and Training program, a WIOA program, or a Trade Adjustment Assistance program
Under 18 or 50 and older

Continuing education, ESL classes, and remedial coursework do not count as “higher education” for this rule, so students in those programs are not subject to the student restrictions. Students who get most of their meals through a campus meal plan are ineligible regardless of which exemption they meet.

How to Apply and What to Have Ready

The application is Form H1010, the Texas Works Application for Assistance. The fastest route is the Your Texas Benefits online portal, where you can complete the form and upload documents in one sitting. Paper applications can be mailed to the HHSC document processing center at P.O. Box 149025, Austin, TX 78714-9025, or faxed to 877-477-2839.¹³

Have these documents in hand before you start:

A driver’s license, state ID, or birth certificate for each applicant
Recent pay stubs (last 30 days) for every working household member, plus documentation of unearned income like Social Security, child support, or unemployment
Current rent or mortgage statements, utility bills, property tax or insurance statements, childcare receipts, and child support payment records
Receipts for out-of-pocket medical costs above $35 per month, if a household member is 60 or older or has a disability⁴
Social Security numbers for every person applying

After the state receives your application, a caseworker will schedule an interview, usually by phone. HHSC must make an eligibility decision within 30 days of your filing date.¹⁴ Households with almost no income or resources may qualify for expedited processing and receive benefits within seven days.¹⁵ You can check your status through the online portal or by calling 2-1-1.

1
Texas Health and Human Services. Texas Works Handbook C-120 – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
2
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
3
Texas Health and Human Services. Texas Works Handbook A-1420 – Types of Deductions
4
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Medical Expenses Handbook
5
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information
6
Texas Health and Human Services. Texas Works Handbook A-1220 – Limits
7
Food and Nutrition Service. Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE)
8
Texas Health and Human Services. Texas Works Handbook A-1210 – General Policy
9
Texas Health and Human Services. Texas Works Handbook A-410 – General Policy
10
Texas Health and Human Services. SNAP Work Rules
11
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
12
Food and Nutrition Service. Students
13
Texas Health and Human Services. Form H1010, Texas Works Application for Assistance – Your Texas Benefits
14
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Application Processing Timeliness
15
Texas Health and Human Services. Texas Works Handbook B-160 – SNAP Timeliness Charts for Applications and All Redeterminations