Not every SNAP recipient in Texas gets their benefits on the same day. The state spreads payments across the month using a staggered schedule tied to each household’s Eligibility Determination Group number, better known as the EDG number.
That number appears on the household’s approval letter from Texas Health and Human Services, and its final digit — or final two digits, depending on the case — determines exactly when the money hits the Lone Star Card each month.
There are two separate SNAP schedules running at the same time, and which one applies depends on when the case was originally certified.
Texas SNAP Benefits: Households Certified Before June 1, 2020
This is the group whose payments fall in the March 9–15 window. These are longer-standing cases, and their benefits are distributed between the 1st and the 15th of each month based solely on the last digit of the EDG number. The breakdown for this week looks like this:
- EDG ending in 5: payment on March 9
- EDG ending in 6: payment on March 11
- EDG ending in 7: payment on March 12
- EDG ending in 8: payment on March 13
- EDG ending in 9: payment on March 15
Now, for the SNAP households certified after June 1, 2020, there’s a different schedule:
Cases opened from that date forward follow a thoroughly different schedule. Their payments fall between the 16th and the 28th of the month, based on the last two digits of the EDG number. None of this group receives benefits between March 9 and 15.
Who These SNAP Recipients Typically Are
Texas runs one of the largest SNAP programs in the country. The households receiving benefits this week include low-income working families, adults 60 and older living on fixed incomes, people with disabilities, and single-parent households where at least one child is under 18.
Seniors and individuals with disabilities who make up the entire household are also covered under the Texas Simplified Application Project, a streamlined enrollment track that grants up to three years of continuous benefits without the standard recertification burden.
Most working-age adults between 18 and 65 who have no children under 14 at home are subject to work requirements. They must be employed, actively job-searching, or enrolled in an approved training program for at least 20 hours per week to remain eligible.
Maximum Monthly SNAP Benefit Amounts in Texas
The figures below are the federal maximums in effect from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. What a household actually receives depends on its net income after deductions, so most families get something below the cap. The formula is straightforward: the maximum benefit minus 30 percent of the household’s net monthly income equals the final payment.
- 1 person: $298 per month
- 2 people: $546 per month
- 3 people: $785 per month
- 4 people: $994 per month
- 5 people: $1,183 per month
- 6 people: $1,421 per month
- 7 people: $1,571 per month
- Each additional person: +$218 per month
The floor for small households — those with one or two members — is $24 per month. There is no official minimum for larger households. On average, a Texas SNAP recipient receives around $184 a month per person, which works out to roughly $401 per household.
Starting April 1, 2026, Texas recipients will no longer be able to use their Lone Star Card to purchase candy, sweetened beverages with five or more grams of added sugar, or items with artificial sweeteners — a restriction that will narrow what counts as an eligible grocery purchase for the first time in the program’s modern history.
