(NAFB.com) – New data released by USDA’s Economic Research Service shows that in fiscal year 2022, USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program served an average of 41.1 million people per month in the 50 states and Washington, DC. SNAP is the largest domestic nutrition assistance program, accounting for about two-thirds of USDA spending on food and nutrition assistance in recent years. The SNAP participation rate increased nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic to a high of 12.5 percent of the resident population of the 50 States and DC in fiscal year 2021. The fiscal year 2022 rate fell slightly to 12.3 percent. SNAP participation varies across states because of differences in program administration and economic conditions. In fiscal year 2022, the share of residents receiving SNAP benefits in each state ranged from as high as 24.5 percent in New Mexico to as low as 4.6 percent in Utah. In 35 States, the share was somewhere between eight and 16 percent.