Your CalFresh benefit in California is the maximum allotment for your household size minus 30% of your net monthly income. For the current federal fiscal year, October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, the maximum is $306 per month for one person, $562 for two, $808 for three and $1,023 for four. Net income is what is left after California's deductions, which include the $686 Standard Utility Allowance, the standard deduction of $217 to $308 by household size, and a 20% cut off all earned income. A one or two person household that qualifies gets at least $25 a month.
This page walks the arithmetic for California specifically. If you want the question "do I qualify at all" answered first, read California SNAP eligibility 2026. If you want the math done for you, the interactive SNAP calculator runs it from your numbers, and the national SNAP benefit table covers the formula in states other than California.
The CalFresh Benefit Formula
CalFresh is SNAP. California renamed the program, but the benefit calculation is the federal one in 7 CFR 273.10, run against California's deduction amounts.
CalFresh benefit = maximum allotment for your household size minus 30% of net monthly income
The 30% figure is the assumption built into the program that a household spends about 30% of its own net income on food. The program pays the difference between that contribution and the cost of a modest food budget.
The whole calculation runs in a fixed order:
- Add up gross monthly income, earned and unearned.
- Subtract 20% of earned income.
- Subtract the standard deduction for your household size.
- Subtract dependent care costs, child support you pay out of the household, and medical costs if someone is 60 or older or has a disability. This gives adjusted income.
- Add your rent or mortgage to your utility allowance to get total shelter cost.
- Subtract half of adjusted income from total shelter cost. What remains is the excess shelter deduction.
- Cap the excess shelter deduction at $769, unless the household has an elderly or disabled member, in which case there is no cap.
- Subtract the excess shelter deduction from adjusted income. That is net income.
- Multiply net income by 30%, round up to the next dollar, and subtract it from your maximum allotment.
Where you stop matters. Skipping step 6 is the single most common reason people estimate their own CalFresh too low, because California rents are high enough that most households hit the full $769 shelter deduction.
Maximum CalFresh Allotments, October 2026 to September 2027
These are the amounts a household with no countable income receives, and the ceiling every other calculation starts from. California uses the 48-state table.
| Household size | Maximum monthly CalFresh |
|---|
| 1 | $306 |
| 2 | $562 |
| 3 | $808 |
| 4 | $1,023 |
| 5 | $1,217 |
| 6 | $1,463 |
| 7 | $1,616 |
| 8 | $1,841 |
| 9 to 17 | add $225 per additional person |
| 18 or more | $3,887 |
The minimum benefit for a qualifying household of one or two people is $25 per month. It went up from $24 on October 1, 2026. Households of three or more have no minimum: if the formula produces nothing, they receive nothing.
California Deductions That Move Your Number
These figures are California's, published by the California Department of Social Services in All County Information Notice I-40-26 and effective October 1, 2026.
| Deduction | Amount | Who it applies to |
|---|
| Earned income deduction | 20% of gross earned income | Anyone with wages, salary, tips or self-employment income |
| Standard deduction | $217 (1 to 3 people), $229 (4), $268 (5), $308 (6 or more) | Every household |
| Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) | $686 | Households with heating and cooling costs billed separately from rent or mortgage |
| Limited Utility Allowance (LUA) | $176 | Households that do not get the SUA but pay at least two separate non-heating utilities |
| Telephone Utility Allowance (TUA) | $21 | Households with only a phone or equivalent communication expense |
| Maximum excess shelter deduction | $769 | Households with no member who is elderly or disabled. No cap if there is one |
| Homeless household shelter allowance | $205.66 | Households experiencing homelessness that pay some shelter cost, claimed instead of actual shelter and utilities |
| Standard Medical Deduction | $150 | Households with a member 60 or older or disabled, with verified medical costs above $35 a month |
| Dependent care | Actual cost | Child or dependent care needed for work, school or training |
| Child support paid | Actual legally obligated amount | Support paid to someone outside the household |
Three California-specific points worth knowing before you estimate:
The SUA is the biggest single lever. At $686 a month it is often larger than the capped shelter deduction itself, which means a renter who pays their own gas and electric bill reaches the $769 cap at a much lower rent than a renter whose utilities are included. If your utilities are bundled into rent and nobody in the household is elderly or disabled, you generally cannot claim the SUA. Since November 1, 2025, receiving energy assistance no longer automatically confers the SUA unless the household includes someone elderly or disabled.
Internet service no longer counts. Since July 4, 2025, internet costs are excluded from the shelter and utility deduction entirely.
Medical costs above $185 can be claimed in full. Households with an elderly or disabled member and verified medical expenses between $35.01 and $185 take the flat $150 Standard Medical Deduction. Above $185.01, verifying actual expenses produces a larger deduction. California's waiver for the Standard Medical Deduction runs through September 30, 2029.
Estimated Monthly CalFresh by Income and Household Size
Every table below assumes a renter who pays their own heating and cooling, so they claim the $686 SUA, and whose income is all from work, so the 20% earned income deduction applies. Rent is held at a fixed figure per household size. Your own number will differ if your rent, utilities or income type differ. These are estimates, not determinations.
One-person household, $1,500 rent plus SUA
| Gross monthly income | Estimated CalFresh |
|---|
| $0 | $306 |
| $500 | $306 |
| $1,000 | $306 |
| $1,500 | $241 |
| $2,000 | $121 |
| $2,500 | $25 |
Two-person household, $1,800 rent plus SUA
| Gross monthly income | Estimated CalFresh |
|---|
| $0 | $562 |
| $1,000 | $562 |
| $1,500 | $497 |
| $2,000 | $377 |
| $2,500 | $257 |
| $3,000 | $137 |
Three-person household, $2,000 rent plus SUA
| Gross monthly income | Estimated CalFresh |
|---|
| $0 | $808 |
| $1,000 | $808 |
| $1,500 | $743 |
| $2,000 | $623 |
| $2,500 | $503 |
| $3,000 | $383 |
| $3,500 | $263 |
| $4,000 | $143 |
Four-person household, $2,200 rent plus SUA
| Gross monthly income | Estimated CalFresh |
|---|
| $0 | $1,023 |
| $1,500 | $962 |
| $2,000 | $842 |
| $2,500 | $722 |
| $3,000 | $602 |
| $3,500 | $482 |
| $4,000 | $362 |
| $4,500 | $242 |
| $5,000 | $122 |
Five-person household, $2,400 rent plus SUA
| Gross monthly income | Estimated CalFresh |
|---|
| $0 | $1,217 |
| $2,000 | $1,048 |
| $2,500 | $928 |
| $3,000 | $808 |
| $3,500 | $688 |
| $4,000 | $568 |
| $4,500 | $448 |
| $5,000 | $328 |
| $5,500 | $208 |
Notice the pattern once a household clears the shelter cap: every extra $500 of gross wages costs about $120 of CalFresh, because $500 of wages adds $400 to net income after the 20% earned income deduction, and 30% of $400 is $120. Work still leaves you better off by roughly $380 of that $500.
Four Worked Examples
A single worker in Fresno earning $1,400 a month
Gross $1,400. Subtract 20% of earned income, $280. Subtract the $217 standard deduction. Adjusted income is $903. Shelter is $1,200 rent plus the $686 SUA, or $1,886. Half of adjusted income is $451.50, so excess shelter is $1,434.50, capped at $769. Net income is $903 minus $769, or $134. Thirty percent of $134 is $40.20, rounded up to $41. Estimated benefit: $306 minus $41, or $265 a month.
A 70-year-old in San Diego on $1,250 of Social Security
Gross $1,250, all unearned, so no earned income deduction. Subtract the $217 standard deduction and the $150 Standard Medical Deduction for verified pharmacy costs. Adjusted income is $883. Shelter is $900 rent plus the $686 SUA, or $1,586. Half of adjusted income is $441.50, so excess shelter is $1,144.50, and because the household has an elderly member there is no $769 cap. Net income is $0. Estimated benefit: the full $306 a month.
This is the case most people get wrong. A senior household with high rent and medical costs often lands at the maximum allotment even with income well above the net limit before deductions. Social Security and SSI both count as income for CalFresh, and California SSI recipients have been able to receive CalFresh since June 2019.
A family of three in Sacramento, one earner at $2,800, with $400 child care
Gross $2,800. Subtract 20%, $560. Subtract the $217 standard deduction and $400 of child care. Adjusted income is $1,623. Shelter is $1,800 rent plus $686 SUA, or $2,486. Half of adjusted income is $811.50, so excess shelter is $1,674.50, capped at $769. Net income is $854. Thirty percent is $256.20, rounded up to $257. Estimated benefit: $808 minus $257, or $551 a month.
Without reporting the child care, the same family's net income would be $1,254 and the benefit $431. Reporting a real expense was worth $120 a month.
A family of four in Los Angeles earning $5,000 a month
Gross $5,000 is above the net income limit of $2,750 for four people, but under California's 200% gross limit of $5,500, so the household is categorically eligible and skips the net income test. Subtract 20%, $1,000. Subtract the $229 standard deduction. Adjusted income is $3,771. Shelter is $2,400 rent plus $686 SUA, or $3,086. Half of adjusted income is $1,885.50, so excess shelter is $1,200.50, capped at $769. Net income is $3,002. Thirty percent is $900.60, rounded up to $901. Estimated benefit: $1,023 minus $901, or $122 a month.
The Income Limits You Have to Clear First
California is a Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility state, which it administers as Modified Categorical Eligibility, so most households are measured against the 200% gross limit and have no resource test at all. The $3,000 and $4,750 resource limits published in the state notice apply only to households that are not categorically eligible.
| Household size | Gross monthly limit (200% of poverty) | Net monthly limit (100% of poverty) |
|---|
| 1 | $2,660 | $1,330 |
| 2 | $3,608 | $1,804 |
| 3 | $4,554 | $2,277 |
| 4 | $5,500 | $2,750 |
| 5 | $6,448 | $3,224 |
| 6 | $7,394 | $3,697 |
| 7 | $8,340 | $4,170 |
| 8 | $9,288 | $4,644 |
| Each additional | add $948 | add $474 |
Two other thresholds exist in the California tables. The Income Reporting Threshold, the point at which you must report an income change mid-period, sits at 130% of poverty: $1,729 for one person, $3,575 for four. And a household in which elderly or disabled members are treated as a separate household is measured at 165% of poverty: $2,195 for one person, $4,538 for four.
Full eligibility rules, including the work requirement for adults 18 to 64 with no child under 14 in the household and the immigration limits in effect since July 4, 2025, are covered on the California SNAP eligibility page and in the California benefits guide.
How to Get Your Exact Number
An estimate is not a determination. Only your county welfare department can calculate your actual allotment, and it will use verified figures, not the ones you type into a calculator.
- Apply at BenefitsCal.com, the statewide application portal, or at GetCalFresh.org, an official CDSS partner that files the same application with a shorter form.
- Report every deduction you can document. Rent, utility bills in your name, child care receipts, court-ordered child support, and medical costs if someone is 60 or older or has a disability. Each one lowers net income and raises your benefit dollar for dollar at the 30% rate.
- Say so if your utilities are billed separately. The $686 SUA is claimed, not assumed.
- Ask about expedited service if your household has under $150 in monthly gross income and under $100 in liquid resources, or if rent plus utilities exceed combined income and resources. California issues those benefits within three calendar days.
- Complete the interview. A missed interview is the most common reason an otherwise approvable application stalls.
- Call 1-800-952-5253 for the state CalFresh information line, or 1-800-952-8349 for TDD.
What Changed on October 1, 2026
The federal fiscal year 2027 adjustment raised most CalFresh figures:
| Figure | FFY 2026 | FFY 2027 |
|---|
| Maximum allotment, 1 person | $298 | $306 |
| Maximum allotment, 4 people | $994 | $1,023 |
| Minimum benefit | $24 | $25 |
| Standard Utility Allowance | $663 | $686 |
| Limited Utility Allowance | $170 | $176 |
| Telephone Utility Allowance | $20 | $21 |
| Maximum excess shelter deduction | $744 | $769 |
| Homeless shelter allowance | $198.99 | $205.66 |
The Standard Medical Deduction stayed at $150. Resource limits are $3,000, or $4,750 for a household with an elderly or disabled member. These figures hold through September 30, 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much CalFresh will I get for one person in California?
Up to $306 a month with no countable income. A single renter paying $1,500 rent plus their own utilities and earning $1,400 a month in wages lands around $265. At $2,000 a month in wages the estimate falls to roughly $121, and at $2,500 it reaches the $25 minimum. One and two person households that qualify never receive less than $25.
Does my rent increase my CalFresh benefit?
Yes, up to a limit. Rent plus your utility allowance, minus half of your adjusted income, becomes the excess shelter deduction, which is capped at $769 a month for households with no elderly or disabled member. Once you reach that cap, additional rent does not change your benefit. Households with a member 60 or older or with a disability have no cap, so for them rent keeps helping.
How does the $686 Standard Utility Allowance work?
If your household has heating and cooling costs billed separately from rent or mortgage, you claim a flat $686 a month as your utility cost instead of adding up actual bills. It is almost always better than using actual bills. A household that does not qualify for the SUA but pays at least two separate non-heating utilities claims the $176 LUA, and a household with only a phone expense claims the $21 TUA.
Can I get CalFresh if my income is over the net limit?
Often yes. California's 200% gross limit is the operative test for most households, and a household under it is categorically eligible and does not have to pass the net income test. The net figure still drives the benefit amount: a family of four at $5,000 a month gross has net income of about $3,002 and still receives roughly $122.
Do Social Security and SSI count as income for CalFresh?
Yes. Both count as unearned income, so neither gets the 20% earned income deduction. California SSI recipients have been able to apply for CalFresh since June 2019. Households with an elderly or disabled member often still receive the full allotment because they get the Standard Medical Deduction and have no cap on the shelter deduction.
Why is my actual benefit different from this estimate?
County workers use verified income, verified shelter costs and household composition rules that a calculator cannot see. Income that varies week to week is averaged. Some people in your home may or may not count as part of your household. Students, strikers and some immigrants have separate rules. Treat any estimate as a range, not a figure.
When do CalFresh amounts change again?
October 1, 2027, when federal fiscal year 2028 figures take effect. The amounts on this page hold from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
Does California add anything on top of federal CalFresh?
California funds the California Food Assistance Program for some immigrants who are not eligible for federal CalFresh, and it uses state dollars for county administration and outreach. The monthly allotment itself follows the federal table above.
Sources
- California Department of Social Services, All County Information Notice I-40-26, "CalFresh Cost-of-Living Adjustments Effective October 1, 2026," September 10, 2026, and Attachment I, California Monthly Income Eligibility Standards, Allotments and Deductions, October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
- CDSS form CF 11 (9/26), Notice to All CalFresh Recipients.
- USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, SNAP Fiscal Year 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustments.
- 7 CFR 273.9 and 273.10, income, deductions and benefit computation.
- P.L. 119-21, sections 10102, 10104 and 10108, for the work rule, the internet exclusion and the immigration limits.
- CDSS Standard Medical Deduction waiver, $150 for verified medical expenses above $35, in effect through September 30, 2029.
