Editorial Policy
SNAP figures change every October and states publish them on different schedules. This policy explains how we decide what to publish, how we keep it current and how we fix mistakes.
Food Stamp Calc Editorial Team · published · verified
What counts as a source
We publish a figure only after reading it in a primary document: a USDA Food and Nutrition Service memo or table, the Code of Federal Regulations, the HHS poverty guidelines, or a state SNAP agency’s own manual, policy release or notice. News stories, benefit blogs and other calculators can point us to a document, but are never the source of a number. Each figure on the site traces to an entry on the sources page with the document’s date and the date we fetched it.
When a figure is not published
We do not estimate, interpolate or carry figures forward silently. If a state has not published its October 2026 utility allowance where we can read it, its page and the receipt say “last year’s figure”, show the dates that figure covered, and ask for the amount on your notice. If no figure exists at all, as for New Jersey’s utility allowance in USDA’s table, the calculator asks you for it.
Verification schedule
- Every August–October: the USDA cost-of-living memo (maximum benefits, deductions, income standards) and all state utility allowances, as they are published.
- Monthly through each autumn: recheck states still marked “last year’s figure”.
- December: Maryland’s calendar-year utility allowances for January 1.
- When FNS updates its chart: broad-based categorical eligibility limits and asset rules.
- When rules change: laws and FNS implementation memos, such as those for the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Every page shows the date its figures were last verified. Our build refuses to publish a site whose rule windows end within 45 days without a verified replacement.
Corrections
Anyone can report a problem through the corrections form, which goes to our editorial queue. We check the report against the primary source. If we were wrong, we fix the figure, update the page’s verified date and note the change in the repository history; if the source itself is ambiguous, we say so on the page. We do not need your email address to act on a report, but you can leave one if you want a reply.
Independence
We take no payment from governments, retailers, apps or enrollment services, run no advertising, and do not rank or recommend commercial products. Links to state agencies are there because that is where you apply.
Automation and AI
We use software heavily. An automated build turns source data into pages, a duplicate-content check keeps state pages genuinely different, and test suites check every state’s calculator against hand-worked examples. AI tools assisted in writing code and drafting explanatory text, and in locating and reading source documents. Every figure is taken from the source document itself, not from an AI summary, and the editorial team reviews the published text and the tests that hold the numbers in place.
Plain language
We write for someone reading on a phone in a waiting room. Where an official term matters — “standard utility allowance”, “categorical eligibility” — we use it once and explain it.