The country’s food stamp rolls have shrunk by 5.3 million people since September, the steepest drop in the program’s recent history. Black Americans are nearly one in four of the people who receive those benefits, so the cut lands on them more than its size suggests.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) went from 42.4 million recipients in September 2025 to 37 million in April 2026, according to USDA figures. Measured over a full year, enrollment fell from 42.2 million in May 2025 to 36.6 million in May 2026, a decline of more than 13%, as theGrio reported.
The cause is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025. Its work requirements took effect Feb. 1. Adults must now work, volunteer or take part in job training for at least 80 hours a month or lose benefits after three months in a three-year period. The rule reaches people who were previously exempt: adults aged 55 to 64, and parents whose children are 14 or older.
Black households are overrepresented in SNAP because of longstanding gaps in income and wealth. In fiscal year 2024, the most recent USDA characteristics report, African Americans were nearly 25% of participants, as the Food Research & Action Center summarized the data. White recipients were a little over 35%, Hispanic recipients nearly 17% and Asian recipients 4%.
The drop was not even across the country. Alaska was the only state where enrollment rose, up 8.2%. Arizona fell the most, by 54.8%, losing more than 400,000 recipients. Georgia, Florida and Louisiana each lost more than 20%. Georgia and Louisiana are among the states with the largest shares of Black residents.
The USDA figures count how many people left. They do not say who they were. The sources reviewed for this report include no breakdown of the decline by race, so how much of the 5.3 million is Black is not yet public. The agency’s annual characteristics report, which carries that breakdown, lags the monthly counts by many months.
The Trump administration has treated the drop as a result. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has described moving millions of people off food stamps as a win. Food banks and anti-hunger groups say the people removed are seeking help from pantries or going without, the Guardian reported Sunday.
The average benefit was roughly $190 a month per person. The Congressional Budget Office projects the law will cut $186 billion from SNAP over the next decade, 20% of the program’s budget.
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