Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program COVID-19 Policy and Enrollment Data, United States, 1987-2024 (ICPSR 39331)

Version Date: May 29, 2025

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Principal Investigator(s):
Kelsey Pukelis, Harvard University

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39331.v1

Version V1

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Alternate Title

SNAP COVID Policy and Enrollment Data

Summary

This study features Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) policy and enrollment data organized in three datasets. The data were originally collected for a companion paper, Pukelis, K. (2024). "SNAP Policies and Enrollment following the COVID-19 Pandemic."

The SNAP COVID Policy Data (DS1) provides monthly data on states' adoption of policies to adjust SNAP enrollment requirements and benefits during the COVID-19 federal public health emergency, from March 2020 through June 2023. This dataset features information from all 50 states regarding policy waivers that were requested to simplify SNAP application and recertification requirements, temporarily waive recertification requirements, and provide emergency supplemental benefits. SNAP implementation procedures data from 2019 are also available for comparison.

The SNAP County Enrollment Data (DS2) contains county-month level data on SNAP enrollment numbers, total benefits issued, applications, and recertifications, as well as a handful of measures on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and Medicaid.

The SNAP State Enrollment Detail Data (DS3) includes state-month level data on SNAP enrollment details, including applications, recertifications, enrollment by demographic group, and information about office walk-in visits and calls to the assistance line. TANF and Medicaid state-month level data is also provided. The state enrollment file also features 62 variables detailing Louisiana case closures.

County and state enrollment files contain demographic information for a limited number of states, including SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid enrollment by age group, and state-month SNAP enrollment by gender, race, and ethnicity.

Citation

Pukelis, Kelsey. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program COVID-19 Policy and Enrollment Data, United States, 1987-2024. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-05-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39331.v1

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Funding

National Science Foundation (DGE1745303)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

County

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2019-01 -- 2023-06 (SNAP COVID Policy Data), 1993-01 -- 2024-06 (SNAP County Enrollment Data), 1987-07 -- 2024-06 (SNAP State Enrollment Detail Data)

Data Collection Notes

  1. The P.I. README document provides the following study-related links:

    GitHub repository: The code used to create these combined data sources is stored in a GitHub repository.

    Source links: The GitHub repository also includes a spreadsheet (snap_data_availability.csv) with the original URL links used to collect these data. Many of these links will contain new months of data as states update them in 2024 and beyond.

    Raw data: The raw data (original Excel files and PDFs) are located in a Dropbox folder.

  2. The companion paper "SNAP Policies and Enrollment following the COVID-19 Pandemic" references state and county unemployment rates and COVID-19 case levels. The datasets deposited with ICPSR do not feature these types of variables.
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Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine state-month level changes to SNAP implementation procedures following the COVID-19 federal public health emergency, and to analyze county-level and state-level monthly SNAP enrollment trends over an extended time period.

Study Design

DS1: Data on SNAP COVID-19 policy information was primarily sourced from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) webpage. The Wayback Machine was also used to fill in information.

DS2, DS3: SNAP Enrollment data at the county-month and state-month levels were sourced from the websites of individual state agencies that operate SNAP. Data availability and timing varied by state.

Please see the P.I. README document for additional information on data sources, availability, and collection procedures.

Sample

inap.

Time Method

Time Series: Discrete

Universe

Monthly data from SNAP and other public assistance programs in U.S. states, territories, and counties.

Unit(s) of Observation

Political-administrative area, Time unit, Other

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

DS1: The SNAP COVID Policy Data file provides state name and FIPS code (including the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands), data year and month, and includes variables for policy waiver name/description, implementation, number of months certification periods were extended, waiver information source, and notes which provide additional implementation details. The NOTES variable features long string values that ICPSR has preserved in a CSV file.

DS2: The SNAP County Enrollment Data file contains county name, state name and abbreviation, and state and county FIPS code (territories excluded). Data year and month are provided, as well as variables pertaining to the number of households, individuals, adults, children, infants, elderly, and disabled persons enrolled in SNAP each month. This dataset also provides the total SNAP benefits issued, number of SNAP applications received, processed, expedited, approved, and denied, the number of denials for a specific reason (i.e., need-based/eligibility, procedural, etc.), and the number of applications processed within a timely or untimely manner. Data were also collected regarding recertification procedures, including eligibility, approvals, denials, reasons for denial, and overdue status. Finally, the county enrollment data also includes the number of Medicaid households, and the number of applications received and approved, as well as the number of households, individuals, children, and adults enrolled in TANF, the total TANF benefits issued, and the number of TANF applications received, approved, denied, and cases closed.

DS3: The SNAP State Enrollment Detail Data file provides state name, abbreviation, and FIPS code (territories excluded). This file again includes the data year and month, and features many of the same variable types as the county-level enrollment file. The state-level enrollment file also provides additional SNAP variables, including the number of households on SNAP for the first time, the SNAP "churn" rate (i.e., eligible households that fail to recertify and subsequently reapply), application methods (e.g., walk-in, drop off, mail, fax, web, phone, etc.), and information about SNAP walk-in office visits and daily calls to the assistance line. TANF information at the state-level includes application method (i.e., in-office, home visit, mail or fax, web, phone), and the number of disabled and elderly recipients. State-level data are also provided for Medicaid households, individuals, children, elderly, disabled, and applications received and approved. For certain states, this dataset also provides the number of monthly SNAP enrollees by gender, race, and ethnicity. Finally, the state-level enrollment file also features a series of variables pertaining to Louisiana case closures, including the state total and various reasons for closure, such as income and other eligibility reasons, procedural, sanction, voluntary withdrawal, criminal conviction, death, moves out of state and other residence requirements, failure to meet work requirements, citizenship, and other failed compliance and ineligibility reasons.

Please see the P.I. README document for additional variable descriptions, availability by state and county, and a detailed summary of missingness across the data files.

Response Rates

Not applicable.

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Original Release Date

2025-05-29

Version History

2025-05-29 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.