As the cold fall air falls over California, a money flow that keeps many people’s homes running starts again. More than 3.2 million families in the state know that October is the time when their CalFresh benefits will come each month.
CalFresh is California’s food stamp program. It does more than just put food on the table. It brings billions of dollars each year to local grocery stores, farmers’ markets and farms.
Upcoming CalFresh benefits payments
The funds arrive on EBT cards at the same time every month. They help many low-income seniors, families with children, and people who are in trouble to plan and budget their money, in a time when grocery costs keep going up.
The delivery of these benefits is a process. It is staggered over ten days, so the system does not get overloaded. Instead of one lump sum, the time frame is connected to the last number of a client’s case number.
This helps get the system ready and helps level the demand at grocery stores. The size of the allotment depends on how many people live in the household. It depends on their income. And it depends on specific allowed deductions, like housing costs. This approach will help target the assistance, and get the program’s money to where it is needed most.
October 2025 disbursement: Dates and details
With the calendar turning to October 2025, those who get benefits should know what to expect. The deposits will start on Wednesday, October 1st, and will keep going through Friday, October 10th. The date for the household depends on the last number of the case number. If the number ends in 3, the funds will deposit on October 3rd.
If the last number is 0, the household gets the money on October 10th, the last day of the disbursement period. The money will be on the cards usually by 6:00 AM, but may be earlier, like midnight. Benefits are issued based on the last digit of your case number, from October 1 to October 10, 2025:
- Case Number Ending in 1: Payment loaded on October 1, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 2: Payment loaded on October 2, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 3: Payment loaded on October 3, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 4: Payment loaded on October 4, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 5: Payment loaded on October 5, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 6: Payment loaded on October 6, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 7: Payment loaded on October 7, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 8: Payment loaded on October 8, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 9: Payment loaded on October 9, 2025
- Case Number Ending in 0: Payment loaded on October 10, 2025
The maximum CalFresh benefits are set to increase soon
Maximum Allotments for the Fiscal Year The budget of CalFresh will change each year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture adjusts maximum allotments each October, based on the effect of the Thrifty Food Plan.
These maximum allotments are scaled to household size. The CalFresh (SNAP) benefits for September 2025 in California are based on the federal fiscal year 2025, which runs from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025.
The maximum monthly benefit amounts for this period are as follows:
- 1 person: $292
- 2 people: $536
- 3 people: $768
- 4 people: $975
- 5 people: $1,158
- 6 people: $1,390
- 7 people: $1,536
- 8 people: $1,756
- Each additional person: +$220
However, these are the maximum allotments. Most people get less than this, after their net income is taken into account. The goal is to close the gap between a household’s income and the cost of getting a good, healthy diet.