For SNAP households assigned to change reporting, $150 is the new line for telling the state about an income change. USDA’s fiscal 2027 cost-of-living memo, dated Aug. 21, 2026 and in force since Oct. 1, lists a “threshold for required reporting of changes in household income” of $150. Its footnote says the figure “applies only to households assigned to change reporting.”
The memo was signed by Sasha Gersten-Paal for Ronald Ward, Acting Associate Administrator of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration. Anyone who receives SNAP, which many people still call food stamps, needs to find out which reporting type the state assigned, because only one type uses the $150 number.
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How does the $150 line work?
The threshold is the amount a household’s income can move before the state has to be told. The same table lists the number for the 48 states and D.C., Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands, so it does not vary by region. It runs through Sept. 30, 2027, the end of the fiscal year the memo covers.
The memo is addressed to state agencies, and the states apply it to the households they have placed in change reporting. A household cannot choose the type on its own. The state agency assigns it.
Which households are on change reporting?
Federal rules in 7 CFR 273.12 describe “certified change reporting households” as those that must report the changes the regulation lists. Other households fall under simplified reporting, a state option for any household certified for at least four months. Most simplified-reporting households file periodic reports instead.
The regulation carves out one group of older and disabled households. Those certified for 12 months or less, in which every adult is elderly or disabled and no one has earned income, are exempt from the periodic reports.
Simplified-reporting households still have one trigger. The regulation says they must report when gross monthly income exceeds the limit for their household size. The fiscal 2027 table puts that gross limit, set at 130 percent of the poverty line, at $1,729 for one person and $3,575 for four.
What the regulation says to report, and by when
Under the regulation, a change-reporting household must report a change of more than $100 in unearned income, with the $100 adjusted each year for inflation and rounded to the nearest $25. It must also report starting, stopping or changing jobs when the change brings a change in income.
For earnings, the regulation gives states a choice for households certified for no more than six months. A state can require a report when earnings change by more than $100 a month from the amount last used to calculate the benefit, or it can require reports of wage or salary changes and switches between full-time and part-time work.
The deadline is short. The regulation says certified households “must report changes within 10 days of the date the change becomes known,” and for income the state must require reporting within 10 days of the date the household receives the first payment tied to the change.
Which other numbers moved on Oct. 1?
The same memo raised the maximum monthly benefit in the 48 states and D.C. to $306 for one person and $1,023 for four. It lifted the standard deduction for households of one to three people to $217 a month and the shelter cap to $769. Hawaii’s maximums fell, with a family of four at $1,655.
Those figures change the size of a benefit. The $150 threshold changes none of them. It only tells a household when a new pay stub, a pension adjustment or a cut in hours has to reach the caseworker so the state can recalculate the benefit.
Has any income changed by more than $150 since the last report?
For a household on change reporting, the report is due within 10 days of the first payment tied to the change. A missed date can mean a benefit calculated on old numbers, with a correction later.
“The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer” is a 20-page guide that includes a renewal and reporting calendar, so a household can write down when each change was reported and when the next renewal falls. It also holds a renewal document checklist, and Part 7 covers reporting changes and EBT problems.
Track every income change with the renewal and reporting calendar in the Renewal Organizer →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
