Overview
- The USDA released FY2025 payment error rates on June 24, 2026, showing a national payment error rate of 10.62%, which the agency says equals $10.1 billion in improper SNAP payments.
- Most improper payments were overpayments, about 9.28% of benefits, compared with roughly 1.33% for underpayments, according to the USDA data.
- Because the national rate exceeds Congress’s 6% threshold, H.R. 1 requires states with PERs at or above 6% to submit Corrective Action Plans and imposes tiered cost-sharing of 5%, 10% or 15% based on how far a state’s rate exceeds the threshold.
- State results vary widely with several states and territories above 15% — Alaska topped roughly 23% — while a few states posted rates near 2%; reporting differs on whether nine or ten states fell below the 6% threshold.
- USDA leaders described the numbers as evidence of weak state accountability, noted a modest drop from FY2024, and warned that agencies failing to curb errors could face additional quality-control penalties and budget pressure that may affect how states run SNAP.