Arizona’s Food Stamp Rolls Have Fallen 45% Since July 2025, and Texas Has 709,435 Fewer People on SNAP, an Updated Tracker Shows

For many Arizona families, losing food stamps this past year came down to a phone call that never connected. The state’s Department of Economic Security dropped more than 3 million calls with potential SNAP recipients between October 2024 and March 2026, and only 13% of calls for eligibility interviews ended with a completed interview, according to DES figures reported by the Arizona Daily Star.

The result shows up plainly in an updated national count. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ SNAP tracker, refreshed Oct. 23 with state data, shows Arizona’s caseload down 408,204 people, or 45%, between July 2025 and September 2026. Texas, a far larger program, has 709,435 fewer people on SNAP over the same stretch, a 20% drop.

Arizona’s 45% drop and the interview backlog

Arizona’s decline has been the steepest percentage drop in the country in national comparisons this year. Children have been hit at the same rate: the state has 168,742 fewer kids receiving SNAP, also a 45% drop, by CBPP’s count.

Different baselines give slightly different numbers. CBPP’s text notes that USDA’s own figures show Arizona’s participation falling by nearly 51% from July 2025 to July 2026, while the 45% figure uses newer state data through September. The Associated Press, in a report carried by KJZZ, put the decline at about 55% from April 2025 to April 2026, the steepest in the country.

Arizona has acknowledged that its own systems were part of the problem. DES spokesman Brett Bezio told the AP that “implementing the federally mandated changes triggered unprecedented call volumes and administrative hurdles,” and said the state had hired more staff and added online document submission, steps he said had slowed the decline in recent months.

The interview numbers explain much of it. Arizona conducts SNAP interviews by phone under a USDA waiver. According to the Daily Star, DES denied 54.5% of new applicants and 53.7% of people renewing their benefits for failing to finish the required interview within 30 days. Average hold time was 23 minutes, and the interview itself averaged more than an hour and 13 minutes. Between July 2025 and April 2026, about 60% of the state’s SNAP denials were tied to incomplete interviews.

Texas: 709,435 fewer people and a 17-year low

In Texas, 2.8 million people were enrolled in SNAP in September 2026, the lowest level since August 2009, according to Texas Health and Human Services Commission data reported by the Texas Tribune. Enrollment fell 20.8% from a year earlier, the steepest year-over-year drop in two decades.

CBPP’s tracker, which measures from July 2025, shows 709,435 fewer Texans on SNAP, including 367,118 fewer children. The Tribune reported that children account for more than half of the state’s losses since September 2025, and that enrollment for children under 5 is the lowest in more than 20 years.

Processing has slowed sharply. In September, Texas handled 64% of applications within 30 days, down from 91% a year earlier, the Tribune reported. Federal rules call for eligible households to get benefits within 30 days of applying, or within seven days for expedited cases.

HHSC did not explain what is driving the decline. Assistant press officer Guillermo Zenizo Lindsey told the Tribune that “new SNAP mandates require a thorough review of each case to ensure program integrity and accuracy.” Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, disputed the idea that people no longer need help: “The declines aren’t the result of people leaving the program because they no longer need it, or because they found work,” she said.

The same federal rules, two very different state stories

Both states are carrying out the same 2025 federal law. The Arizona Food Bank Network’s guide for its partners lays out the main changes: work requirements of 80 hours a month now reach adults up to age 65 and parents of children 14 and older, veterans, homeless people and former foster youth up to age 24 lost their exemptions, and refugees, asylees and other humanitarian immigrants lost eligibility as of March 1, 2026.

The money pressure is also shared. Texas’s payment error rate is nearly 9%, according to the Tribune, and getting it below 6% matters because the state could face up to $2 billion in added costs in its 2028-2029 budget. HHSC Executive Commissioner Stephanie Muth has called lowering the error rate her top budget priority, saying “every improvement in accuracy helps protect taxpayer dollars and reduce the state’s exposure to these new costs.”

Advocates and federal officials have both raised concerns about how the changes are being carried out. The Tribune reported that the error-rate drive has created backlogs for SNAP and Medicaid, which share staff, while in Arizona, the Daily Star noted that USDA’s J. David Noble warned that the federal food agency “may consider discontinuing the waiver” for phone interviews if operations proved problematic. Not everyone sees the drop as a failure: Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh said in April that those coming off the rolls included “people who shouldn’t have been on it in the first place,” the Daily Star reported.

The national picture is covered in the site’s report on this year’s SNAP benefit adjustment and on what happens if Congress misses the Dec. 11 funding deadline. For households in Arizona or Texas that were cut off over a missed interview or paperwork, reapplying through DES or HHSC remains an option. The Arizona Food Bank Network’s guide lists work-rule exemptions for people who are pregnant, have a medically certified disability or care for a child 14 or younger at home. In Texas, the Tribune reported, a family of four can qualify with monthly income of $4,421 or less.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: w_lemay – CC BY-SA 2.0/Wikimedia Commons