<P> SNAP benefits cost $70.9 billion in fiscal year 2016 and supplied roughly 44.2 million Americans ( 14 % of the population ) with an average of $125.51 for each person per month in food assistance . Beneficiaries and costs increased sharply with the Great Recession , peaked in 2013 and have declined through 2016 as the economy recovered . It is the largest nutrition program of the 15 administered by FNS and is a component of the federal social safety net for low - income Americans . </P>
<P> SNAP benefits cost $70.9 billion in fiscal year 2016 and supplied roughly 44.2 million Americans ( 14 % of the population ) with an average of $125.51 for each person per month in food assistance . Beneficiaries and costs increased sharply with the Great Recession , peaked in 2013 and have declined through 2016 as the economy recovered . It is the largest nutrition program of the 15 administered by FNS and is a component of the federal social safety net for low - income Americans . </P>
how much does snap cost the federal government
how much does snap cost the federal government
$70.9 billion
$70.9 billion