07/09/2026
Support our local pantry!
A single-person household making $2,600 a month (about $30,000 a year) before taxes is considered “too high income” for SNAP.
According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a single adult living in Virginia needs about $53,000 a year in income to cover basic needs like housing, food, taxes, and transportation.
A family of 4 making $5,300 a month (about $63,000 a year) before taxes is also considered “too high income.”
For a family of 4, the cost of basic needs, including childcare, exceeds $115,000 a year.
This is the “SNAP gap”: individuals and families who earn too much to qualify for SNAP benefits but not enough to cover basic expenses—like food.
SNAP is the U.S.’s most effective anti-hunger program, providing 9 meals for every 1 meal supplied by food banks and pantries.
Virginia must replace hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds or 1 in 10 Virginians who use SNAP could lose benefits and this gap could widen.
It’s important to and to support our local food banks and pantries. Because if benefits are cut, we cannot fill that gap alone.
