On June 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released fiscal year 2025 (FY25) payment error rate data for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This was the first update of payment error data since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) established a cost-share system based on this data, and the first year of data that may determine the share of benefit costs that states must pay beginning in 2028.
Payment errors occur when SNAP benefits are issued incorrectly, either to an ineligible household, in the wrong amount, or based on misapplied eligibility rules. The OBBBA, which President Donald Trump (R) signed into law in 2025, established a cost-share system for SNAP benefits, under which states must pay a share of benefits based on their payment error rate. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, states will be required to pay a share of SNAP benefit costs if their program error rates exceed 6%. Previously, the federal government has paid for the entirety of SNAP benefit costs.
For FY28, states will be able to choose to use their 2025 or 2026 error rate to determine their cost-share. Starting in FY29, the cost share will be calculated using the rate from three years prior (e.g., error rate from 2026 determines cost-share in 2029). States with error rates from 6%-8% will pay 5% of benefits, states with 8%-10% will pay 10% of benefits, and states with error rates over 10% will pay 15%. For states with error rates under 6%, the federal government will continue to pay all of SNAP benefits. For states with exceptionally high error rates (where the rate × 1.5 exceeds 20%, or 13.34%), implementation of this section can be delayed until FY30.
