Who Qualifies for SNAP in Michigan: Income, Assets, and Work Rules

You qualify for SNAP in Michigan if you live in the state, your household’s gross monthly income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, and you meet the program’s rules on citizenship, household composition, and work. For a family of four in 2026, that income ceiling is $5,500 a month before taxes.¹ The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) runs the program and loads approved benefits onto a Bridge Card.² Income is the main filter, but a handful of other rules can tip a close case either way.

Income Limits by Household Size

Michigan uses Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, which raises the SNAP gross income cutoff to 200% of the federal poverty level instead of the standard 130% used in some other states.¹ Gross income means everything your household earns before taxes or deductions are applied.

The 2026 monthly gross income limits are:³

1 person: $2,660
2 people: $3,607
3 people: $4,553
4 people: $5,500
5 people: $6,447
6 people: $7,393
7 people: $8,340
8 people: $9,287

Add roughly $947 per month for each additional person beyond eight. If your household’s gross income exceeds the limit for your size, the application will be denied regardless of your expenses. The figures are updated each year when new federal poverty guidelines are published.

Savings and Other Assets

Michigan has eliminated the asset test for households that qualify through broad categorical eligibility.¹ Your savings account balance, retirement funds, and other financial resources do not count against you.

One exception: households that include a member disqualified for an intentional program violation, such as trafficking benefits, lose categorical eligibility and face a resource limit that typically ranges from $2,500 to $4,000.

Who Counts as Your Household

MDHHS evaluates applications based on your “household,” meaning everyone who lives together and shares meals.⁴ If you share a home with someone but buy and prepare food completely separately, you can file as a separate SNAP household.

Two relationships override that flexibility. Spouses who live together must be on the same application, and children under 22 who live with a parent are automatically part of the parent’s household regardless of how food is handled. Everyone else in the home can split into separate households if they genuinely keep food budgets apart. This matters because the income of everyone in your SNAP household gets added together when MDHHS checks the limits above.

Citizenship and Immigration Status

Federal eligibility rules changed in July 2025 when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act took effect. SNAP is now limited to a short list of immigration categories:⁵

U.S. citizens and nationals, with no waiting period
Lawful permanent residents (green card holders), after five years of qualified status
Cuban and Haitian entrants, eligible immediately
Citizens of countries with a Compact of Free Association, eligible immediately

Refugees and people granted asylum, who previously qualified immediately, are no longer eligible for SNAP under the new law. MDHHS is applying these rules to new applicants and removing ineligible members from existing cases at recertification.⁵

In mixed-status households, MDHHS processes benefits only for eligible members. The income of ineligible members still counts toward the household’s financial eligibility, but citizen children, for example, can receive benefits on their own.

Work Requirements

If you are between 16 and 59 and able to work, you must register for employment, accept a suitable job if offered, and not quit a job without good cause. The registration requirement does not apply if you are already working at least 30 hours a week, caring for a child under six or an incapacitated person, unable to work due to a physical or mental limitation, enrolled at least half-time in school or training, or participating regularly in a substance abuse treatment program.⁶

Quitting a job of 30 or more hours a week without good cause, or deliberately cutting your hours below 30, triggers a disqualification. First offense: at least one month off benefits. Second: at least three months. Third or later: up to six months, or permanent disqualification at the state’s option.⁷

The ABAWD Three-Month Limit

If you are 18 to 54, able to work, and have no dependents in your household, you are classified as an Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD). That label carries a hard limit: you can receive SNAP for only three months in any three-year window unless you work or participate in a qualifying training program for at least 80 hours a month.⁶ Michigan has obtained partial ABAWD waivers for some counties based on local unemployment data, though the waived areas change each year.

You are exempt from the ABAWD time limit if you are pregnant, have anyone under 18 in your SNAP household, are a veteran, are experiencing homelessness, or were in foster care on your 18th birthday.⁶

College Students

Students enrolled at least half-time in a college or university are generally not eligible for SNAP unless they meet a specific exemption.⁸ Common ways to qualify include working at least 20 hours a week in paid employment, participating in a federal or state work-study program, being in an on-the-job training program, or caring for a child between 6 and 11 without access to the childcare that would be needed to both attend school and work 20 hours.

Students enrolled less than half-time are not subject to these restrictions and can qualify under the regular eligibility rules. The school itself defines half-time enrollment, so the threshold varies between institutions.⁸

Deductions That Can Pull You Below the Limit

Gross income determines whether you get in the door, but several deductions can reduce the income that gets measured against the benefit formula, and some can even affect whether a borderline household qualifies at all. MDHHS applies:⁹

A standard deduction based on household size, applied automatically
An earned income deduction of 20% of all wages and self-employment income
A shelter deduction when rent or mortgage plus utilities exceed half your income after other deductions, up to a cap (no cap for elderly and disabled households)
Dependent care costs paid so someone can work or attend training
Court-ordered child support paid to someone outside your household, which Michigan treats as an income exclusion

Households with an elderly member (60 or older) or a disabled member can also deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses that exceed $35 a month, including prescriptions, doctor visits, hospital bills, dental care, insurance premiums, and medically necessary transportation.¹⁰ Special diets do not count. Documenting these costs carefully can raise your monthly benefit substantially.

Expedited Eligibility for Urgent Need

If your household is in immediate crisis, you may qualify for expedited processing, which puts benefits on your Bridge Card within seven days. You are entitled to expedited service if your household has less than $150 in gross monthly income and $100 or less in liquid assets such as cash and checking account balances.¹¹ You also qualify if your combined gross income and liquid assets are less than what you pay each month for rent or mortgage plus utilities.¹²

Expedited cases still go through full verification. If MDHHS waives certain documents to issue benefits quickly, you will need to provide them afterward to keep receiving assistance the following month.

1
Food and Nutrition Service. Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE)
2
State of Michigan. Payment – Bridge Card
3
HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines – 48 Contiguous States
4
Department of Health and Human Services. Eligibility
5
Food and Nutrition Service. OBBB Implementation Memo – Alien SNAP Eligibility
6
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
7
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.7 – Work Provisions
8
Food and Nutrition Service. Students
9
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Information Booklet MDHHS-1171-INFO
10
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Special Rules for the Elderly or Disabled
11
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
12
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. FAP Expedited Service