The way Texas handles the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP benefit payments) is a well-orchestrated process, especially for a specific group of recipients. If you were certified for assistance before the first of June back in 2020, your funds get distributed across the first half of the month.
Interestingly, while the window runs from the 1st to the 15th, the state only uses ten specific days to make all those electronic deposits happen. This isn’t some random lottery; it’s all down to a number called your Eligibility Determination Group, or EDG.
The very last digit of this number is your key. It directly dictates which of those ten days your Lone Star Card gets reloaded each month, a system designed to smooth out the process for everyone involved.
The dates for the first group of Texas SNAP recipients
So, how does that last digit translate to a calendar date? The state provides a clear schedule that’s the following:
SNAP payment schedule for September 2025 (based on EDG number):
- If your case number ends in 0, your benefits will be deposited on Monday, September 1.
- If your case number ends in 1, your benefits will be deposited on Wednesday, September 3.
- If your case number ends in 2, your benefits will be deposited on Friday, September 5.
- If your case number ends in 3, your benefits will be deposited on Saturday, September 6.
- If your case number ends in 4, your benefits will be deposited on Monday, September 8.
- If your case number ends in 5, your benefits will be deposited on Tuesday, September 9.
- If your case number ends in 6, your benefits will be deposited on Thursday, September 11.
- If your case number ends in 7, your benefits will be deposited on Friday, September 12.
- If your case number ends in 8, your benefits will be deposited on Saturday, September 13.
- If your case number ends in 9, your benefits will be deposited on Monday, September 15.
Maximum SNAP amounts for the month of September 2025 in Texas:
- 1-person household: Up to $291 per month
- 2-person household: Up to $535 per month
- 3-person household: Up to $766 per month
- 4-person household: Up to $973 per month
- 5-person household: Up to $1,155 per month
- 6-person household: Up to $1,386 per month
- 7-person household: Up to $1,532 per month
- 8-person household: Up to $1,751 per month
- Each additional person: Add $219 per month
What can you actually buy with these benefits?
The rules on eligible items are actually quite strict and are defined by the federal government. The core idea is that SNAP is for groceries—food you take home to prepare and eat. This includes a huge range of items: fresh produce, meat, fish, dairy, bread, cereal, and even non-alcoholic snacks. You can also use your benefits to buy seeds and plants so you can grow your own food.
On the flip side, the list of things you absolutely cannot buy is just as clear. Alcohol is off the table, as is tobacco in any form. You cannot use SNAP to buy any non-food item, which covers everything from soap and shampoo to pet food, medicines, and vitamins.
Perhaps the most significant rule is the ban on hot foods. You cannot buy any prepared meal that is sold hot and meant to be eaten right away. This means that while you can buy a cold rotisserie chicken, you can’t buy a hot one. You can buy ingredients to make a sandwich, but you can’t buy a pre-made sandwich from a store’s hot bar.
Junk food is banned from SNAP benefits
This is where the whole “junk food” debate gets tricky. Things like soda, candy, energy drinks, and chips are generally allowed. Why? Because the federal government classifies them as “food” or “non-alcoholic snacks.”
There is no current law in Texas or at the federal level that creates a special category to ban these less nutritious items from being purchased with SNAP funds, as long as they are sold as grocery items. The conversation about adding such restrictions pops up every few years, but it hasn’t gained enough traction to become law yet.
Work requirements to qualify
Beyond the shopping rules, the bigger changes on the horizon for SNAP involve who qualifies and what they have to do to keep their benefits. Major reforms are being debated in Washington, and if passed, they would hit Texas hard. Right now, there are work requirements for a group known as Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs), mainly people from 18 to 49.
They have to meet certain work or training thresholds. One powerful proposal doing the rounds is to push that age limit all the way up to 64. Imagine that—suddenly people in their early sixties could be forced to meet work mandates to keep food on the table.
At the same time, they want to slash the number of people who can get an exemption. For example, the exemption for parents might only apply if they have a child under 7 years old, a much tougher rule than what some areas have now.
Another huge change would ax the waivers for areas with high unemployment. Right now, if you live in a region where jobs are truly scarce, you can be exempt from work rules. This proposal would wipe that out, meaning folks in struggling Texas towns would have to find work that doesn’t exist or lose their assistance.