Western Blue Chip Current Update
October 29, 2025
The states included in the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
SNAP PARTICIPATION VARIES ACROSS THE WESTERN STATES
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide nutrition assistance to low-income households. As of May 2025, the number of participants within households receiving benefits exceeded 42 million persons, and the projected annual cost of the program was $95 billion.
Nationally, 12.5% of the population received SNAP benefits in May, or approximately one out of every eight persons. The distribution of participants varies from state to state and from region to region.
The two states with the greatest level of participation (New Mexico and Oregon) are Western states (see table). Approximately one out of every four to five persons in New Mexico and Oregon participated in the SNAP program in 2025. In New Mexico, 21.5% of individual state residents were on SNAP programs, and in Oregon the figure was 18.1%. Any alterations in SNAP payments such as delays or reductions will be felt more strongly in these two states. Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virgina round out the top five based on participation rates. Nevada is the only other Western state among the top ten highest participation states.
Two Western states have the lowest rate of participation – Utah and Wyoming – where approximately one out of every twenty persons receives SNAP benefits. In Utah 5.1% of individual state residents received SNAP benefits, and in Wyoming only 4.6% received such benefits. The Western states of Montana (7.1%) and Idaho (5.7%) are among the bottom ten states in participation.
Western states below the 12.5% national average participation rate include Arizona (11.7%), Washington (11.4%), Texas (11.0%), and Colorado (10.3%). California had the greatest number of SNAP participants (5.5 million and 13.9% of the state population).
SNAP PROGRAM PARTICIPATION WITHIN STATES
| State | Individual Participants | Individual Percent of Population |
| New Mexico | 457,699 | 21.5% |
| Oregon | 772,893 | 18.1% |
| Louisiana | 803,988 | 17.5% |
| Oklahoma | 692,477 | 16.9% |
| West Virginia | 273,566 | 15.5% |
| Nevada | 496,848 | 15.2% |
| Massachusetts | 1,076,187 | 15.1% |
| Pennsylvania | 1,958,047 | 15.0% |
| New York | 2,962,913 | 14.9% |
| Illinois | 1,879,564 | 14.8% |
| Michigan | 1,473,832 | 14.5% |
| Alabama | 736,178 | 14.3% |
| California | 5,494,318 | 13.9% |
| Kentucky | 595,155 | 13.0% |
| Rhode Island | 142,726 | 12.8% |
| Florida | 2,943,012 | 12.6% |
| North Carolina | 1,378,291 | 12.5% |
| Ohio | 1,450,955 | 12.2% |
| Georgia | 1,356,493 | 12.1% |
| Mississippi | 357,042 | 12.1% |
| Arizona | 887,253 | 11.7% |
| Maine | 163,520 | 11.6% |
| Wisconsin | 689,315 | 11.6% |
| Washington | 905,471 | 11.4% |
| Hawai’i | 163,576 | 11.3% |
| Delaware | 118,209 | 11.2% |
| Texas | 3,455,085 | 11.0% |
| Maryland | 667,981 | 10.7% |
| Missouri | 655,940 | 10.5% |
| South Carolina | 567,895 | 10.4% |
| Colorado | 614,843 | 10.3% |
| Vermont | 64,633 | 10.0% |
| Connecticut | 363,524 | 9.9% |
| Tennessee | 690,545 | 9.6% |
| Virginia | 824,866 | 9.4% |
| Alaska | 66,377 | 9.0% |
| New Jersey | 826,094 | 8.7% |
| Indiana | 586,403 | 8.5% |
| Iowa | 267,158 | 8.2% |
| South Dakota | 75,282 | 8.1% |
| Minnesota | 451,966 | 7.8% |
| Arkansas | 239,748 | 7.8% |
| Nebraska | 150,600 | 7.5% |
| North Dakota | 57,129 | 7.2% |
| Montana | 80,523 | 7.1% |
| Idaho | 133,545 | 6.7% |
| Kansas | 186,036 | 6.3% |
| New Hampshire | 75,717 | 5.4% |
| Utah | 177,087 | 5.1% |
| Wyoming | 27,122 | 4.6% |
| United States | 42,406,479 | 12.5% |
Source: USDA, SNAP Data Tables, State Level Participation and Benefits, May 2025; and U.S. Census State Population, December 2024.
SPOTLIGHT ON TEXAS
“The Texas economy, as with most parts of the country, has showed definitive signs of slowing in recent months. The state is particularly vulnerable to current trade and immigration policy, and it is being hampered by uncertainty and a temporary pull back in the energy sector. While long-term prospects remain highly positive and Texas is poised to perform well in numerous high-growth industries going forward, the next few quarters will be challenging.”
Ray Perryman, President and CEO, The Perryman Group
“The Texas economy faces an uncertain short-term future due to its strong linkages with global markets. Soft oil prices are having ripple effects in the Permian Basin with oilfield employment down significantly. The state’s agricultural sector faces headwinds from labor shortages and retaliation by other countries from higher U.S. tariffs. On a positive note, investment in AI and server farms has picked up substantially in recent months.”
Bud Weinstein, Associate of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU
.