Louisiana posts 35th highest drop in food stamps participants

Louisiana ranked No. 35 among 49 states and U.S. territories that saw reductions in food stamps participation, according to the latest numbers compiled by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Louisiana had 894,313 residents participating in the federal SNAP program in September 2017, compared to 848,859 in September 2018, the latest month with available data.

The year-over-year change represented a 5.1 percent drop.

For all the states and territories in the analysis, the number of people taking part in SNAP declined by 9.2 percent over the same year-over-year comparison.

SNAP, which is a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides nutritional assistance to millions of low-income families and individuals nationwide. The federal government describes SNAP as “the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net.”

Data for Rhode Island was not reported to the USDA.

Hard to believe but Texas saw the largest drop in food stamp recipients– at 32 percent.

North Carolina saw nearly a 19 percent drop, and South Carolina nearly 11 percent drop.

Which states have seen the largest drops in food stamp recipients?

Rank State / Territory September 2017 August 2018 (preliminary) September 2018 (initial) % Change September 2018 vs. August 2018 Year-over-Year % Change
1 Texas 5,311,725 3,620,064 3,602,528 -0.50% -32.20%
2 North Carolina 1,038,992 901,940 843,088 -6.50% -18.90%
3 Alaska 101,439 86,149 86,034 -0.10% -15.20%
4 District of Columbia 124,075 107,050 108,377 1.20% -12.70%
5 Wyoming 30,587 27,391 26,987 -1.50% -11.80%
6 South Carolina 696,654 629,959 620,912 -1.40% -10.90%
7 Kentucky 649,065 583,875 579,199 -0.80% -10.80%
8 Utah 198,502 182,667 180,032 -1.40% -9.30%
9 Mississippi 528,067 489,938 479,423 -2.10% -9.20%
10 Tennessee 1,022,588 943,013 930,386 -1.30% -9.00%
11 South Dakota 91,018 84,361 82,986 -1.60% -8.80%
12 Florida 3,217,150 2,947,869 2,941,835 -0.20% -8.60%
13 New Hampshire 89,693 83,466 82,092 -1.60% -8.50%
14 Idaho 162,292 150,781 149,387 -0.90% -8.00%
15 Michigan 1,332,382 1,244,328 1,230,552 -1.10% -7.60%
16 Maine 173,067 161,686 160,087 -1.00% -7.50%
17 Indiana 649,118 606,211 602,029 -0.70% -7.30%
18 Iowa 359,201 335,057 333,402 -0.50% -7.20%
19 Arizona 898,552 838,416 838,485 0.00% -6.70%
20 New Jersey 788,641 742,303 735,850 -0.90% -6.70%
21 Connecticut 403,323 377,531 377,649 0.00% -6.40%
22 Montana 118,297 112,123 110,916 -1.10% -6.20%
23 Arkansas 385,494 362,440 362,454 0.00% -6.00%
24 Oregon 652,429 619,273 614,529 -0.80% -5.80%
25 Washington 902,796 852,952 850,732 -0.30% -5.80%
26 Illinois 1,861,915 1,765,985 1,757,609 -0.50% -5.60%
27 Missouri 756,634 719,012 714,356 -0.60% -5.60%
28 Vermont 74,715 70,874 70,620 -0.40% -5.50%
29 West Virginia 333,919 316,195 315,408 -0.20% -5.50%
30 Delaware 144,641 138,586 136,761 -1.30% -5.40%
31 Georgia 1,588,084 1,529,027 1,504,422 -1.60% -5.30%
32 Wisconsin 673,098 640,315 637,586 -0.40% -5.30%
33 Minnesota 445,535 426,388 422,155 -1.00% -5.20%
34 North Dakota 53,523 51,183 50,733 -0.90% -5.20%
35 Louisiana 894,313 852,608 848,859 -0.40% -5.10%
36 Alabama 790,882 756,688 751,235 -0.70% -5.00%
37 California 4,040,313 3,875,364 3,846,268 -0.80% -4.80%
38 Maryland 668,216 639,567 637,475 -0.30% -4.60%
39 Nebraska 173,488 166,981 165,496 -0.90% -4.60%
40 Virginia 753,721 726,202 719,439 -0.90% -4.50%
41 New York 2,854,907 2,751,082 2,733,500 -0.60% -4.30%
42 Ohio 1,449,403 1,401,376 1,395,560 -0.40% -3.70%
43 Oklahoma 600,783 583,042 581,866 -0.20% -3.10%
44 Hawaii 166,398 161,692 161,550 -0.10% -2.90%
45 Pennsylvania 1,841,128 1,801,513 1,796,760 -0.30% -2.40%
46 New Mexico 463,720 455,481 454,804 -0.10% -1.90%
47 Nevada 442,981 439,822 437,137 -0.60% -1.30%
48 Guam 45,117 45,356 44,722 -1.40% -0.90%
49 Massachusetts 766,805 771,602 765,641 -0.80% -0.20%
50 Colorado 448,675 455,186 455,773 0.10% 1.60%
51 Kansas 205,870 213,641 212,522 -0.50% 3.20%
52 Virgin Islands 25,406 28,646 28,933 1.00% 13.90%
U.S. Total 42,489,337 38,874,257 38,577,141 -0.80% -9.20%

Source: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

The majority of this article was first published on Watchdog.org.

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