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By Aliss Higham
Reporter
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will resume normal payment schedules in December after more than a month of chaos caused by the government shutdown.
But when will you get yours?
Why It Matters
SNAP payments provide food assistance benefits to some 42 million low- and no-income Americans each month.
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The 43-day shutdown left millions of SNAP recipients unsure when or whether they would receive benefits on time. After the administration said November payments wouldn’t go out, the program became entangled in lawsuits and conflicting court rulings.
As a result, states delivered benefits inconsistently—with some issuing full payments, others partial, and some none at all.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a funding bill ending the shutdown and allowing SNAP payments to resume. The House approved the bill earlier in the day after the Senate passed it on Monday.
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What To Know
Now that government funding has been approved, SNAP benefits for December will be paid according to their regular schedules in each state.
Recipients are paid via electronic benefit transfer cards that are similar to debit cards. These are loaded with money each month and can be used in participating stores across the country.
The date a recipient receives their monthly SNAP benefits depends on the state or territory they live in.
States follow different schedules for issuing SNAP benefits. Some, such as California, base payments on case numbers, while others—like Connecticut and Delaware—use the first letter of a recipient’s last name. Smaller states, including Alaska and South Dakota, often distribute all benefits on a single day.
Here are the payment dates for each state and the District of Columbia:
- Alabama: December 4 to 23
- Alaska: December 1
- Arizona: December 1 to 13
- Arkansas: December 4 to 13
- California: December 1 to 10
- Colorado: December 1 to 10
- Connecticut: December 1 to 3
- Delaware: December 2 to 23
- District of Columbia: December 1 to 10
- Florida: December 1 to 28
- Georgia: December 5 to 23
- Guam: December 1 to 10
- Hawaii: December 3 to 5
- Idaho: December 1 to 10
- Illinois: December 1 to 20
- Indiana: December 5 to 23
- Iowa: December 1 to 10
- Kansas: December 1 to 10
- Kentucky: December 1 to 19
- Louisiana: December 1 to 23
- Maine: December 10 to 14
- Maryland: December 4 to 23
- Massachusetts: December 1 to 14
- Michigan: December 3 to 21
- Minnesota: December 4 to 13
- Mississippi: December 4 to 21
- Missouri: December 1 to 22
- Montana: December 2 to 6
- Nebraska: December 1 to 5
- Nevada: December 1 to 10
- New Hampshire: December 5
- New Jersey: December 1 to 5
- New Mexico: December 1 to 20
- New York: December 1 to 9
- North Carolina: December 3 to 21
- North Dakota: December 1
- Ohio: December 2 to 20
- Oklahoma: December 1 to 10
- Oregon: December 1 to 9
- Pennsylvania: December 3 to 14
- Puerto Rico: December 4 to December 22
- Rhode Island: December 1
- South Carolina: December 1 to 19
- South Dakota: December 10
- Tennessee: December 1 to 20
- Texas: December 1 to 28
- Utah: December 5, 11 and 15
- Virgin Islands: December 1
- Vermont: December 1
- Virginia: December 1 to 7
- Washington: December 1 to 20
- West Virginia: December 1 to 9
- Wisconsin: December 1 to 15
- Wyoming: December 1 to 4
What Happens Next
As part of the government spending deal, SNAP benefits have been appropriated for the full fiscal year, which ends on October 1, 2026.
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