Food stamps (SNAP) in
Massachusetts.
By Subha, Public Benefits Writer · Verified
Quick answer: The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) handles SNAP in Massachusetts and screens most applicants against a 200% of poverty line, which a family of four meets at $5,500 or less a month since October 1, 2026.
The final digit of your Social Security number fixes a deposit day from the 1st to the 14th, and HIP returns up to $40, $60 or $80 monthly on farm-vendor produce.
Eligibility
200% of poverty, using DTA's own rounding
Find your household size, then hold your monthly pay before taxes up against DTA's figure in the first column. The net limit and top benefit beside it are federal amounts DTA started using October 1, 2026.
| Household | Gross limit (200%) | Net limit | Max benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $2,660 | $1,330 | $306 |
| 2 people | $3,607 | $1,804 | $562 |
| 3 people | $4,553 | $2,277 | $808 |
| 4 people | $5,500 | $2,750 | $1,023 |
| 5 people | $6,447 | $3,224 | $1,217 |
| 6 people | $7,393 | $3,697 | $1,463 |
| 7 people | $8,340 | $4,170 | $1,616 |
| 8 people | $9,287 | $4,644 | $1,841 |
Each extra person adds $474 to the net limit and $225 to the maximum benefit.
Gross limit rule: Mass.gov: SNAP Eligibility Chart, maximum monthly income before taxes. Net limits and maximum benefits: USDA Food and Nutrition Administration FY2027 standards. Verified October 21, 2026.
FNA's chart shows Massachusetts conferring categorical eligibility on all households through a DTA brochure, with a 200% gross line and no cap on assets. Where DTA cannot use that route, the federal 130% test takes over, which is $1,729 a month for a lone applicant and $3,575 for a family of four.
DTA's chart already carries the 2026 income lines, but its benefit column still lists the amounts paid before October; the maximums here come from DTA's COLA page. Beyond eight people, DTA's line climbs $947 per person, and an older or disabled member lets a household qualify above it through the net test alone.
Meeting the income limit does not guarantee benefits. Your amount is figured from net income after deductions, so a household near the limit may get a small benefit or none.
- 1At $3,300, their pay would fail a plain 130% test ($2,345), yet sits under DTA's $3,607 line, so the case moves on to a budget instead of ending at the gross test.
- 2DTA subtracts a fifth of the wages plus a $217 standard deduction, arriving at $2,423. Paying for heat earns the $945 heating allowance, so shelter costs reach $2,445, and the part above half their income ($1,211.50) is $1,233.50.
- 3No one is 60 or older or disabled, so the shelter deduction stops at $769, leaving net income of $1,654. Thirty percent, $497, comes off the $562 two-person maximum, for a monthly benefit of $65 before any HIP refunds at farm stands.
Walk through every SNAP deduction.
The card pays for groceries and seeds or plants that grow food, not alcohol, tobacco, vitamins, hot prepared food, pet food or household supplies.
Payment schedule
Deposits from the 1st to the 14th, by your last Social Security digit
Each month DTA credits SNAP on one of the first 14 days, chosen by the final digit of your Social Security number or of a number DTA assigned you. A 0 is paid on the 1st, while a 9 waits until the 14th. Should that day be a Sunday or a holiday, benefits post one business day early.
| SSN (or DTA-assigned number) ends in | Benefits arrive |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1st |
| 1 | 2nd |
| 2 | 4th |
| 3 | 5th |
| 4 | 7th |
| 5 | 8th |
| 6 | 10th |
| 7 | 11th |
| 8 | 13th |
| 9 | 14th |
DTA has mailed every client a chip and tap EBT card. Activate yours by November 29 by making a purchase or by setting a new PIN at 1-800-997-2555. Cash assistance uses the same digits but comes in two payments, the second 15 days after the first.
Source: Mass.gov: Using Your EBT Card.
Get started
DTA Connect, the 877 line, mail, fax or a community kiosk
Apply on DTA Connect or its mobile app, by phone at 877-382-2363 (press 7), by mail or fax to the DTA Document Processing Center in Taunton, or at a DTA office, community kiosk or outreach partner. Your name, an address if you have one and a signature are enough to file.
DTA then schedules a phone interview and provides an interpreter if you need one; staff cover over 100 languages. Only after that call does DTA tell you which papers it still needs. People 60 or older, alone or as a couple, can use the shorter SNAP Application for Seniors.
Sending pay stubs, rent proof and other verifications with the application speeds the decision, but missing papers can follow later. Name an authorized representative on the application if someone you trust will shop for you or handle renewals.
A decision is due within 30 days, and an approval pays back to your application date. Emergency SNAP, paid within 7 days, goes to applicants whose income and bank money fall short of housing costs, who have under $150 in monthly income and no more than $100 banked, or who are migrant workers holding less than $100.
HIP: up to $80 a month back for produce from Massachusetts farms
The Healthy Incentives Program puts SNAP back on your card when you buy fruits and vegetables from a HIP vendor: a farmers market booth, a farm stand, a mobile market or a CSA farm share. There is no sign-up, since every SNAP household can use it. Grocery and convenience stores do not take part.
Your monthly cap depends on household size: $40 for one or two people, $60 for three to five and $80 for six or more. It resets on the 1st whatever your deposit day, unused HIP does not roll over, and you need at least a penny of SNAP on the card to use it.
Fresh, canned, dried and frozen produce all count, as do seeds and seedlings, as long as nothing (salt, sugar, fat or oil) has been added. HIP keeps working for 60 days after a SNAP case closes, and DTAFinder.com maps vendors by location and opening hours.
DTA's October 2026 utility, shelter and deduction figures
DTA credits utilities with a flat allowance instead of your actual bills. From October 1, 2026 it is $945 if you pay to heat or cool your home, $575 for other utilities such as electricity or water, and $66 for a phone alone. Only the highest one you qualify for is used.
The standard deduction is now $217 for one to three people, $229 for four, $268 for five and $308 for six or more. The shelter deduction cap rose from $744 to $769, and homeless households get a $206 shelter deduction. The public Mass.gov calculation guide has not caught up and still shows the older numbers.
Source: DTA Online Guide: SNAP Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (October 2026).
Bay State CAP: SNAP set up through your SSI claim
Bay State CAP enrolls SSI applicants and recipients in SNAP using the information Social Security already gathers, with no DTA interview. You must be 18 or older, unmarried, have no earnings, and buy and prepare food apart from anyone you live with.
Benefits use your SSI income, the one-person standard deduction and a $945 Bay State CAP utility allowance. Reporting shelter costs of $481 or more earns the high shelter amount. You can leave Bay State CAP at any time, and changes are reported to Social Security at 800-772-1213.
Source: DTA Online Guide: Bay State Combined Application Project (CAP) Overview.
The ABAWD clock that restarts on January 1, 2027
Massachusetts counts the 3-month time limit on a fixed clock. This round started January 1, 2024 and closes December 31, 2026, and anyone who used up their 3 months on it cannot get SNAP again until January 1, 2027 unless they start meeting the rules sooner.
Covered are able-bodied people aged 18 through 64 who are not pregnant and have no child under 14 in the home. Meeting the rule takes 80 hours a month of paid or unpaid work or an approved training activity, or volunteering for the hours printed on your DTA notice.
SNAP Path to Work, at 888-483-0255, lists free trainings, community college certificates, internships and volunteer sites, and DTA can help pay for transportation. No Massachusetts town or county is exempt on USDA's waiver roster for the quarter that began October 1, 2026.
SUN Bucks come on a separate card
Massachusetts pays Summer EBT, called SUN Bucks, on its own card and never on your SNAP EBT card. Children who got SNAP, DTA cash, certain MassHealth coverage or SSI with a relative caregiver, or who were in foster care, are enrolled automatically.
Unspent SUN Bucks are wiped 122 days after the deposit. Applications for summer 2026 closed September 7, 2026, but the portal stays open year-round for summer 2027. For replacement cards or PIN help, call 855-425-8770. SUN Bucks cannot be used to earn HIP.
Source: Mass.gov: SUN Bucks FAQ.
Appealing to DTA's Division of Hearings
The Division of Hearings must receive your request no later than 90 days after the notice date, or 120 days if DTA acted without sending proper notice. Call (617) 348-5321 or fax (617) 348-5311; the notice itself explains how to file.
If DTA gets the appeal before the date your SNAP is cut or lowered, you can receive Aid Pending, but it ends with your certification period and must be repaid if you lose. A letter with the hearing date comes 15 days ahead, and hearings are held at a local office or by phone.
Source: Mass.gov: FAQ on DTA Appeal Process.
Only in Massachusetts
Massachusetts details: who shares a case, public charge, card timing
No Massachusetts row appears on USDA's food restriction waiver tracker, last updated October 13, 2026, so soda and candy remain eligible purchases. DTA also stresses that SNAP is not part of the public charge test: someone without status can safely apply for an eligible relative, such as a citizen child.
Spouses must be in the same SNAP household, and so must children under 22 who live with a parent, even if they shop and cook on their own. Anyone else counts only if you buy and make most meals together.
Most applicants have an EBT card posted to them within 3 to 5 days of filing, sometimes before DTA decides the case, so benefits can be used the day they post. If you cannot wait for the mail, a local DTA office can issue one.
Bank balances rarely matter in Massachusetts: Because every household can qualify through the brochure route, DTA does not test savings, cars or retirement accounts for most applicants.
If a case falls back to regular rules, DTA's October 2026 COLA notice sets the limit at $3,000, or $4,750 where someone in the home is 60-plus or disabled.
- Restaurant Meals ProgramClients DTA knows to be 60 or older, disabled or homeless can buy food at authorized restaurants and food trucks with their EBT card. To confirm you are set up, call 1-800-997-2555 and press 6.Official page
- EBT Card to CultureShowing an EBT card gets discounted admission at many museums and cultural institutions across the Commonwealth.Official page
- CSA farm shares on SNAPSign a SNAP membership agreement with a HIP farm and DTA sends the farm a set amount from your account each month, with HIP replacing what you spend up to your cap. You then pick up a weekly share of produce.Official page
Related guides
Where Massachusetts readers usually go from here:
Frequently asked questions
Questions Massachusetts residents put to DTA
Since October 1, 2026, DTA's ceiling is $306 a month for a person living alone, $562 for a couple, $808 for three people and $1,023 for four, rising $225 with each extra member.
Thirty percent of net income comes off that ceiling, a $25 floor protects households of one or two, and HIP produce refunds are extra.
DTA's line sits at 200% of poverty. A person living alone can earn up to $2,660 a month, a couple $3,607 and a family of four $5,500, with $947 more for each person beyond eight. Homes that include someone 60-plus or disabled may qualify above the line by passing the net test.
The final digit of your Social Security number, or of your DTA-assigned number, decides it: 0 gets paid on the 1st, 1 on the 2nd, 2 on the 4th, and so on to 9 on the 14th. Sunday and holiday dates move one business day earlier.
Buy fruits and vegetables with SNAP at a HIP farm vendor and the amount goes back on your card, up to $40 a month for one or two people, $60 for three to five and $80 for six or more. It resets on the 1st and does not roll over. Grocery stores do not offer HIP.
Often not. Bay State CAP signs up SSI recipients for SNAP from their Social Security information, without a DTA interview, if they are 18 or older, unmarried, have no earnings and buy and cook food separately. You may leave Bay State CAP for regular SNAP at any time.
Able-bodied people 18 through 64 who are not pregnant and have no child under 14 at home. To get SNAP past 3 months on the clock that ends December 31, 2026, they need 80 hours a month of work, training or volunteering; a fresh clock opens January 1, 2027.
Usually not. Categorical eligibility through DTA's brochure carries no asset limit. Only a case budgeted under regular federal rules faces one: $3,000, rising to $4,750 if someone in the home is 60-plus or disabled.
Within 7 days, for applicants whose income and bank money together fall below monthly housing costs, whose income is under $150 with $100 or less banked, or who do migrant work and hold under $100. DTA usually covers one month while your verifications come in.
Yes. DTA mailed chip and tap cards to all clients and asks you to activate yours by November 29, either by making a purchase or by calling 1-800-997-2555 to set a new PIN. Visit Mass.gov/EBT if your card has not arrived.
Official resources
Official links
- Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA)
- Mass.gov: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Mass.gov: SNAP Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA)
- DTA Online Guide: SNAP Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (October 2026)
- Mass.gov: Using Your EBT Card
- Mass.gov: Emergency SNAP benefits
- Mass.gov: Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) FAQ
- DTA Online Guide: Bay State Combined Application Project (CAP) Overview
- Mass.gov: Work Rules for SNAP Clients
- Mass.gov: SNAP RMP Client FAQ
- Mass.gov: SUN Bucks FAQ
- Mass.gov: FAQ on DTA Appeal Process
- USDA FNA: Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility chart
- USDA FNA: SNAP Food Restriction Waivers
- USDA FNA: ABAWD time limit waiver status, FY2027 Quarter 1
- USDA FNA: FY2027 SNAP cost-of-living adjustments
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