New Income Eligibility Guidelines for Child Nutrition Programs

On February 9th, the USDA announced annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk for the period from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. The Department’s guidelines for free meals and milk and reduced price meals were obtained by multiplying the year 2023 Federal income poverty guidelines by 1.30 and 1.85, respectively, and by rounding the result upward to the next whole dollar. As an example, a family of four in the contiguous US making below $30,000 is considered to be “in poverty.” Under this new USDA guidance, families of four making below $39,000 will receive free lunches and families making less than $55,500 per year will receive reduced price lunches.

View the full announcement.