Summer EBT (SUN Bucks): Who Gets $120 per Child and How to Apply

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Summer EBT, which many states call SUN Bucks, gives families grocery money for each school-age child during the summer months, when school breakfast and lunch stop. Most kids who get it are enrolled automatically, but plenty of eligible children are missed because their family never filled out a school meal form. Here's who qualifies, how much it's worth, and what to do if your child didn't get it.

AT A GLANCE

Benefit: $120 per eligible child for summer 2026 in the 48 contiguous states and DC ($40 a month for three months). Alaska, Hawaii and the territories get more.
Who gets it automatically: children in households on SNAP, TANF or FDPIR, and many students already approved for free or reduced-price school meals.
Who must apply: other families with income at or below the reduced-price meal limit (185% of the poverty guidelines) whose child attends a school in the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program.
Where to apply: your state, Tribal or territory Summer EBT agency, not your child's school or the federal government.
Use it for: groceries at stores, farmers markets and online retailers that take SNAP EBT. Unused benefits expire about four months after they're issued.

What Summer EBT is

Summer EBT for Children is a federal program run by states, Tribes and territories. The federal Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA), part of USDA, describes it as $120 in grocery benefits for each eligible school-age child to help replace school meals during the summer. FNA notes the program may go by a different name where you live. California, Ohio, Arizona and Pennsylvania, for example, all list their programs as SUN Bucks on FNA's participation map.

The money goes onto an EBT card. Depending on your state, it may be added to the SNAP account you already have, loaded on a new card in the child's name, or issued another way. Either way, it works like SNAP for shopping. You swipe the card at checkout and the eligible items come out of the balance.

Summer EBT is separate from the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which serves free meals at parks, schools and other sites to kids 18 and under. Your child can get Summer EBT and still eat at summer meal sites.

How much it's worth

Benefit amounts are set every year in the Federal Register. The regulation set the 2024 benefit at $40 per child per month, adjusted for food prices and rounded down. The notice published April 22, 2026, sets these amounts for the 2026 calendar year:

Area	Per month	Per summer
48 contiguous states and DC	$40	$120
Alaska (urban)	$54	$162
Alaska (rural 1)	$69	$207
Alaska (rural 2)	$84	$252
Hawaii	$63	$189
Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and other territories	$60	$180

For comparison, 2025 amounts were the same $120 in the contiguous states, $177 in Hawaii and the territories, and $156 to $243 in Alaska. A family with three eligible children in Ohio, for example, would get $360 for summer 2026. That's our own math: 3 × $120.

Which states take part

Summer EBT is optional for states. As of FNA's participation map (updated August 14, 2026), these states sent families to the "Summer EBT not available where you live" page: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Every other state, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands had a program listed.

Tribes can run the program too. In Oklahoma, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Otoe-Missouria Nations issue Summer EBT to eligible children living in their service areas, whether or not the child is a Tribal member. Participation can change from summer to summer, so check FNA's map before you assume your state is in or out.

Who qualifies

The federal rules in 7 CFR part 292 cover children who are of school age as defined by state or Tribal compulsory education law. They also cover older students enrolled in a school that runs the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP). There are two main routes in.

Route 1: automatic ("streamlined") enrollment

You usually don't have to do anything if, during the school year before the summer, your child:

lived in a household getting SNAP, or TANF or FDPIR where the state has that data;
was certified as foster, homeless, migrant or runaway, or was enrolled in Head Start; or
was approved for free or reduced-price meals at an NSLP or SBP school, including through a school meal application.

States match their records to find these kids and issue benefits. They have to tell families they've been enrolled, and you're allowed to opt out.

Route 2: applying based on income

If your child attends an NSLP or SBP school and you weren't enrolled automatically, you can apply directly to your state's Summer EBT agency. Your household income has to be at or below the reduced-price meal limit. The limits below run from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, and apply in the 48 contiguous states, DC, Guam and the territories:

Household size	Annual income	Monthly income
1	$29,526	$2,461
2	$40,034	$3,337
3	$50,542	$4,212
4	$61,050	$5,088
5	$71,558	$5,964
6	$82,066	$6,839
7	$92,574	$7,715
8	$103,082	$8,591

Alaska and Hawaii have higher limits, published in the same Federal Register notice. Income means gross income before taxes and deductions. It includes wages, self-employment earnings, Social Security, unemployment, child support, pensions and other cash income.

Community eligibility schools. Many schools serve free meals to every student and don't collect meal applications. Those children aren't automatically in Summer EBT unless the state matches them through SNAP or other data. If your child goes to one of these schools, you may need to submit a Summer EBT application yourself.

How to apply

GETTING SUMMER EBT FOR YOUR CHILD

Check FNA's participation map to see whether your state, Tribe or territory runs Summer EBT, and find its website.
If you get SNAP or TANF, or your child was approved for free or reduced-price meals last school year, watch for a notice. Your child may already be enrolled.
If not, fill out the state's Summer EBT application. It asks for your child's name, date of birth and school, your address, and your household income. A SNAP case number can stand in for the income section.
An adult household member has to sign. The agency can't require pay stubs or other proof of income with the application, though it may verify later.
Apply before the last day of your state's summer operational period. Applications that come in later count toward the next summer.
If a separate card arrives in the mail, don't throw it away. Unused benefits stay on it until the expungement date.

States that offer an online application must offer a paper one too. If your application is missing something, the agency has to contact you within 10 operational days. Once you submit a complete application, you should get an approval or denial notice within 15 operational days.

Timing of payments

States issue benefits to children who are already enrolled 7 to 14 calendar days before the summer operational period begins. Children approved later are paid after approval. Eligibility is based on the whole period from the start of the previous school year through the end of summer. You don't have to report changes in income or household size once your child is approved.

What you can buy

Summer EBT follows SNAP's food rules. FNA's family page lists:

You can buy	You can't buy
Fruits and vegetables	Hot, ready-to-eat foods
Meat, poultry and fish	Pet food
Dairy products	Cleaning or household supplies
Breads and cereals	Personal hygiene items
Snack foods and non-alcoholic drinks	Medicine

You can use the card at grocery stores, convenience stores, farmers markets and online retailers that accept SNAP. FNA's SNAP Retailer Locator shows authorized stores near you.

Summer EBT agencies shall expunge Summer EBT benefits 122 calendar days after their issuance. (7 CFR 292.15(h))

That 122-day clock is easy to miss. If benefits land in early June, plan to spend them by early October. The state has to warn you at least 30 days before unused benefits are removed, and once they're gone they can't be restored. If food you bought with Summer EBT is destroyed in a household misfortune or disaster, the agency must make replacement benefits available when you report it.

If you're denied or never got benefits

A denial notice has to explain why you were turned down, tell you how to appeal, and say that you can reapply at any time during the application window. You have the right to a fair hearing, and many agencies offer an informal conference first.

Under 7 CFR 292.26, you can request a hearing up to 90 days after the end of the summer operational period. If the hearing decides your child should have gotten benefits, the state must issue them. Common problems worth appealing include a child left off a SNAP household's enrollment, a wrong school record, or an income application lost in processing.

Moved during the year? A child can't collect from two states. If that happens, the benefits from the state where the child finished the school year are the ones that count. If you get notices from two places, contact both agencies to sort it out.

Tips for families

Apply for school meals in the fall. A free or reduced-price meal application filed during the school year can also enroll your child in Summer EBT the next summer.
Update your address with SNAP and the school. Cards and notices go to the address on file.
Protect your PIN. Treat the card like cash, and report a lost or stolen card to your state agency right away so it can be replaced.
Use summer meal sites, too. SFSP meals are free and don't reduce your Summer EBT benefit.

Related guides

Official sources

Last checked: October 30, 2026, against FNA's Summer EBT pages (updated July 22 and August 14, 2026), the April 9 and April 22, 2026 Federal Register notices, and eCFR text of 7 CFR 292.2–292.26. The three-child example is our own math.

This is general information, not legal advice. Each state, Tribe and territory runs its own Summer EBT program, application period and appeal process. Confirm details with your state's Summer EBT agency.