Georgia Income Limits for Food Stamps

Before you determine if you meet the food stamp income limit in GA in 2021, it would be best to understand what the program is about and what constitutes a household. Also, it would be best to understand other criteria that govern which people get this kind of aid or not.

The Georgia Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a food aid program funded at the federal level to assist households with low income or minimal resources. It is available to U.S. citizens and legal residents. However, you must meet the set income limits to be eligible for the program.

Any eligible individual or family will receive an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, which draws money from their SNAP account to pay for the food items they buy from SNAP-authorized retail stores.

SNAP considers a household as:

• A family
• Anyone living alone
• Several unrelated individuals who cohabit and buy and prepare meals together

In Georgia, Senior SNAP is available to seniors over ​60 years​ old with permanent fixed income such as Social Security and who are part of a household where no one works and where everyone is over the 60-year age limit.

Also, if you qualify for Senior SNAP and have medical expenses exceeding ​$35​ per month, you can use them to decrease your income and increase your SNAP benefits.

In Georgia, the maximum SNAP benefits vary, depending on your household income and other resources. But it also depends on the number of individuals within your household.

Generally, expect to get anywhere from ​$250 to $1,504​ per month in SNAP benefits if you belong to a household of between one and eight individuals who meet the set criteria.

For example, if you live with one other person in your household, you will receive a maximum of ​$459​ in food stamps per month. On the other hand, if there are six of you in your household, and you qualify for SNAP benefits, you will get ​$1,190​.

Also remember that if you have a household of more than eight individuals, each extra household member enables you to receive ​$188​ more in benefits. So, while an eight-member household will receive ​$1,504​ in SNAP benefits, a 10-member household will get ​$1,880​, and so on.

To estimate how much you will get in SNAP benefits in Georgia, you can multiply your net income by 30 percent and round it up. And then, you can subtract a similar percentage from your net income from the maximum SNAP benefit amount for your household size.

For example, suppose you live in a six-person household and your net income per month is ​$2,965​. In that case, ​30 percent​ of that is ​$889.5​, which can be rounded up to ​$890​. Now, suppose the maximum SNAP benefit allotment for a six-person household is ​$1,190​. In that case, your SNAP benefits would be (​$1190-$890​), which is ​$300​ per month. However, if you earned less, your benefits would increase, until the set limits.

Household size is one of the biggest determining factors for income limits for SNAP participants. You can earn anywhere from ​$16,744 to $58,058​ as maximum income per year, depending on the household size. That income range covers households of between one and eight people.

For example, if you live with a spouse, you can earn a total of ​$22,646​. But if you and your spouse have two kids, the maximum income limit could go up to ​$34,450​.

Beyond the eight-person limit, you are allowed to increase your maximum household income by ​$5,902​ per person per year. So, for example, if there are nine members in your household, all of you can earn a total of ​$63,960​ and still qualify for Georgia food stamps.

In addition, you can also get away with having additional resources beyond your food stamp income limit in GA in 2021 and still stay within SNAP. Currently, the acceptable countable resources limits stand at:

• Under ​$2,001​ in both your savings and checking accounts
• Under ​$3,001​ in both your savings and checking accounts if you live with one or more persons over 60 years old or someone with a disability (child, spouse, parent, yourself)

Remember, you are allowed to deduct some expenses to bring down your maximum income. These include legally owed child support, medical expenses for the elderly, educational expenses and so on. It would be wise of you to take advantage of these deductions to increase the SNAP benefits you could get.

It is critical that you stay on top of the food stamp income limit in GA to ensure you continue being eligible for them. However, it is also important that you know your rights and what counts as resources or income. And if you receive SSI benefits and TANF, your resources will look different from those that don’t get such benefits. So, that’s something to think about too.