Check which benefits your household qualifies for

There is no single application for assistance in the United States and no office that will tell you everything you are entitled to. Each programme has its own rules, its own agency and its own form, and several are run by your state rather than the federal government. Households routinely miss help they qualify for simply because nobody told them the programme existed.

Cost to check

Free, always

Time

About 20 minutes for a first pass

Decided by

Household size, income, and sometimes immigration status

Where

Federal benefit finder, then your state agency

The three things eligibility turns on

Household size and income. Most programmes set a threshold as a percentage of the federal poverty guidelines — 130%, 135%, 200% and so on. What counts as your household is defined per programme and is not always who lives with you.

Immigration status. This varies more than anything else. Some programmes are open regardless of status, some require a qualifying immigration category, and some impose a waiting period after getting a green card. Children are frequently eligible when adults in the same home are not.

Which state you live in. Medicaid thresholds, cash assistance and utility help differ substantially between states, and some states run their own programmes on top of the federal ones.

Start with the federal benefit finder

The government runs a questionnaire that covers programmes across every agency and returns a list of what your answers suggest you may be eligible for. It asks nothing that identifies you — no name, no Social Security number — and it does not submit an application. Treat the result as a shortlist to work through, not a decision.

Then go programme by programme

The ones worth checking first for most new arrivals:

• SNAP — monthly money for groceries, on a card that works like a debit card
• WIC — food, formula and nutrition support for pregnant women and children under five
• Medicaid and CHIP — health coverage for adults and children on low incomes
• LIHEAP — help with energy bills, usually opening for applications in autumn
• Lifeline — a monthly discount on phone or internet service
• School meals — free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch, applied for through the school
• Cash assistance — TANF and state programmes, generally for families with children

Food banks are separate from all of this. They ask no questions about status or income and require no application at all.

What you will be asked to prove

Have these ready before you start: identity documents for everyone in the household, proof of address, recent pay stubs or a statement of no income, immigration documents for anyone applying, and Social Security numbers for those who have them. A missing document is the usual reason an application stalls.

If you have a green card application pending, read will using benefits hurt my green card first — the answer is usually no, but the rules are changing in September 2026.