Illinois food stamp use drops to lowest in a decade
Federal changes in work requirements have played a role.
Illinois food stamp participation hit a decade low in May, falling more than 23% from the previous year, with new federal work requirements contributing to the drop.
Despite the decline, the state’s benefit payment error rate rose to a 10-year high.
About 1,565,300 Illinois residents received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in May 2026, down about 368,000 from May 2025 but still about one in every eight people in the state.
While food assistance use was already falling in Illinois, the decline accelerated and reached a decade low after the new work requirements took effect.
Benefits ended May 1 for residents who did not take steps to meet the new federal eligibility requirements, which apply generally to able-bodied adults without dependents.
Between late April and late May alone, 88,537 Illinoisans lost access to SNAP benefits. That’s the single largest monthly enrollment drop in the past decade.
The city of Chicago alone accounted for almost a third of the state’s SNAP recipients in May, a participation rate of over 17%.
The state’s highest SNAP participation rate was in Pulaski County, at the southern tip of the state, where almost 27% of residents were receiving benefits.
Although the state’s SNAP participation has fallen, its error rate — overpayments and underpayments — has reached the highest recorded value in the past decade of available data. Illinois’ SNAP error rate increased to 14.67% in fiscal 2025, up from 11.56% the previous year, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
Not only did that rank Illinois worse than 45 other states, overpayments accounted for more than 90% the state’s SNAP error rate.
Starting in fiscal 2028, states with error rates above 10% generally will be required to pay up to 15% of the costs of the program. That could cost Illinois taxpayers about $700 million, based on the most recently available estimates.
With its ongoing fiscal challenges, the state cannot afford such a blow. Prioritizing accurate eligibility determinations and benefit administration can help ensure benefits reach eligible recipients and reduce the state’s exposure to costly federal penalties.