SNAP Policy Data Sets

The SNAP Policy Database provides a central data source for information on State policy options in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The database includes information on State-level SNAP policies relating to eligibility criteria, recertification and reporting requirements, benefit issuance methods, availability of online applications, use of biometric technology (such as fingerprinting), and coordination with other low-income assistance programs. Data are provided for all 50 States and the District of Columbia for each month from January 1996 through December 2011.

The information in this database can facilitate research on factors that influence SNAP participation and on SNAP's effects on a variety of outcomes, such as health and dietary intake. More specifically, the database can be used to:

  • Describe the differences in the State-level administration of SNAP and trends in the adoption of specific State-level SNAP policies,
  • Examine how State policies affect household-level participation in SNAP, and
  • Estimate the effect of SNAP participation on outcomes such as health and food spending by combining this data with nationally representative survey data. The SNAP Policy Database provides a potentially exogenous source of variation in program participation and can be used in instrumental variables estimation techniques.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {005:13}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
describedBy http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/snap-policy-database/documentation.aspx
identifier USDA-ERS-00089
issued 2019-08-20
landingPage http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/snap-policy-database.aspx
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2019-08-20
programCode {005:041}
publisher Economic Research Service, Department of Agriculture
references {http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/snap-policy-database/about-the-database.aspx}
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash c4b04e473af13390cdd76298e7724647b2fa3c871c5560c695bfaad9c7f73e3f
source_schema_version 1.1
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • agricultural-economics
  • policy
  • snap
isopen True
license_id cc-zero
license_title Creative Commons CCZero
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-zero
maintainer Laura Tiehen
maintainer_email ltiehen@ers.usda.gov
metadata_created 2025-09-24T16:46:15.136004
metadata_modified 2025-09-24T16:46:15.136016
notes The SNAP Policy Database provides a central data source for information on State policy options in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The database includes information on State-level SNAP policies relating to eligibility criteria, recertification and reporting requirements, benefit issuance methods, availability of online applications, use of biometric technology (such as fingerprinting), and coordination with other low-income assistance programs. Data are provided for all 50 States and the District of Columbia for each month from January 1996 through December 2011. The information in this database can facilitate research on factors that influence SNAP participation and on SNAP's effects on a variety of outcomes, such as health and dietary intake. More specifically, the database can be used to: - Describe the differences in the State-level administration of SNAP and trends in the adoption of specific State-level SNAP policies, - Examine how State policies affect household-level participation in SNAP, and - Estimate the effect of SNAP participation on outcomes such as health and food spending by combining this data with nationally representative survey data. The SNAP Policy Database provides a potentially exogenous source of variation in program participation and can be used in instrumental variables estimation techniques.
num_resources 1
num_tags 11
title SNAP Policy Data Sets