Do 12% of Arizona residents qualify for federal food assistance? 

Yes.

More than 900,000 Arizona residents—about 12% of the state’s population—received  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in fiscal year 2024. Public policy officials estimate that thousands more could qualify for assistance but have not yet enrolled.

Primary recipients of SNAP, which provides financial assistance to help low-income households afford nutritious food and reduce food insecurity, are families with children, households with older or disabled family members and working families.

Recent changes under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” however, impose stricter work requirements and funding cuts that threaten to remove benefits from approximately 73,000 Arizonans. This includes parents of older children, veterans, unhoused adults and youth from foster care, according to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities data.

Arizona organizations such as the Arizona Food Bank Network and Children’s Action Alliance say cuts to SNAP would devastate low-income Arizonans and strain local nonprofits.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.

Sources

• Arizona Nutrition Assistance, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Demographic SNAPshot: Not Everyone Eligible for Food Assistance Program Receives Benefits, U.S. Census Bureau
• The Trump Administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act Will Drive Up Costs in Arizona, Center for American Progress
• Senate Agriculture Committee’s Revised Work Requirement Would Risk Taking Away Food Assistance From More Than 5 Million People: State Estimates, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Largest Cuts in SNAP and Medicaid History Will be Devastating for Arizonans and Arizona’s nonprofits, Arizona Food Bank Network