Newer figures from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) show only slight shifts. As of September 2025, Harris County still has by far the largest number of SNAP-eligible individuals, while Fort Bend, Galveston, and Brazoria have seen the steepest growth. Montgomery County is the only major Houston-area county showing a decline.

Effects of the pause will be especially widespread in Texas, which has the highest population of food insecure people in the country.

David Macpherson, Ph.D., the Economics Department chair at Trinity University, said the loss of SNAP benefits spending will be felt by the Texas economy.

The ongoing shutdown means more than $600M per month won’t go to millions of Texas SNAP beneficiaries who pump that money into the state economy.

NBC 5 Investigates is investigating how the federal government shutdown affects North Texas families needing food assistance.

The pause of SNAP benefits, effective November 1st due to the ongoing government shutdown, has sent ripples of uncertainty through communities across the country, impacting some o

Over 40 million Americans could lose access to federal food assistance Saturday if the government shutdown continues into November.

About 3.5 million Texans—including 1.7 million children—could lose access to SNAP benefits next month if the shutdown continues.

As the government shutdown continues, hundreds of thousands of Central Texans will soon lose their SNAP benefits.