Numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show about 70,000 fewer people in Oklahoma used SNAP between December 2024 and December 2025.
Nationwide, it was roughly 3.4 million people in the same timeframe, according to the USDA, which oversees the program.
Researchers at the left-leaning think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities say about 2.5 million fewer SNAP shoppers between July 2025 and December of that year.
"In other words, the declines started before H.R. 1's enactment, suggesting factors at play in addition to that law," according to the center. "But in many states, they accelerated after H.R. 1, and we expect that trend to continue."
H.R.1, named the Big Beautiful Bill Act, shifted millions of dollars of SNAP costs to states, expanded work requirements and stripped eligibility for certain documented immigration populations, including refugees.
The center's researchers expect the downward trend to continue and say it is unlikely that reduced need is driving the decline because unemployment numbers are similar to other data taken earlier.
They also note that larger-than-expected declines in SNAP participation could be due to states' efforts to broadly reduce enrollment while lowering their error rates.
Error rates are not fraud rates. They are over- and underpayments made to SNAP shoppers, according to the USDA. The bulk of Oklahoma's error rate, which is at 10.87%, is due to mistakes from recipients, said Jeffery Cartmell, director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, in a February committee meeting.
If a SNAP shopper's situation changes, like if they get a pay raise, their information has to be updated.
The center's researchers write constraints like staffing shortages can also have an impact, and the program faced massive disruption during the federal shutdown last fall, when the Trump Administration halted benefits.
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