The short answer
Children in households with income at or below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines receive free school meals, and those at or below 185% pay a reduced price of no more than 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. For a family of four in the 2026-27 school year those lines are about $42,900 and $61,050 a year. Children in households receiving SNAP qualify automatically.
The income lines, and when they change
The limits are set at 130% of the federal poverty guidelines for free meals and 185% for reduced-price meals, and USDA publishes them each spring for the school year that starts in July. From July 2026 to June 2027 a household of four in the 48 contiguous states qualifies for free meals at about $42,900 a year and for reduced-price meals at about $61,050. The limits are higher in Alaska and Hawaii.
The school counts the household's current gross income - before taxes and deductions - and the number of people who live together and share income and expenses. The figures can be weekly, monthly or annual, and the form asks which, so a family whose income fell recently can apply on what it earns now rather than on last year's tax return.
Qualifying without an application
Children in households that receive SNAP, TANF cash assistance or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations are directly certified: the school or state matches its enrolment against those programmes and grants free meals without an application. Many states also match against Medicaid, which can certify a child for free or reduced-price meals the same way.
Some children qualify because of their circumstances rather than their household's income. Children in foster care, children experiencing homelessness, migrant and runaway children, and children enrolled in Head Start are all eligible for free meals. If your family is in one of these groups and the school has not been told, tell it.
Schools where every child eats free
Under the Community Eligibility Provision, a school or district with a high share of directly certified students can serve breakfast and lunch free to every student without collecting applications at all. Thousands of schools use it, and a child at one of them eats free whatever the family's income.
Some states go further and pay for free meals for every student in the state. Even there the application can matter, because schools and states use the income information for other help, such as reduced fees and Summer EBT, so it is worth completing if the school asks for it.
Applying, and when you can
You can apply at any time in the school year, not only in the autumn, and a household whose income drops or whose size grows can apply the day it happens. One application covers every child in the household at the same district. It asks for the household's income and the last four digits of an adult's Social Security number, a SNAP or TANF case number instead, or a statement that no adult has one. It does not ask about immigration status.
Approval in one school year carries into the first 30 operating days of the next, which gives families time to reapply. After that, a child who has not been directly certified or approved on a new application goes back to paying full price, so reapplying early in the school year avoids a gap.
Summer meals and Summer EBT
When school closes, the free meals do not have to stop. Summer meal sites at schools, parks and libraries serve free meals to any child aged 18 or under with no application, and in many rural areas meals can be picked up or delivered.
Summer EBT, also called SUN Bucks, gives families in participating states a grocery benefit for each eligible child over the summer - $120 per child in recent summers. Children who receive free or reduced-price meals are generally enrolled automatically, which is another reason the school meal application matters. Not every state takes part.
What our calculator works out
Our SNAP calculator estimates what the household might receive in SNAP benefits. If it shows the household is likely to be eligible, that matters twice: SNAP itself, and free school meals for every child in the household through direct certification.
What this does not tell you
The figures here are the federal limits for the 2026-27 school year. Your school district applies them to the income you report, and a state that offers free meals to every student sets its own rules.
The SNAP calculator does not screen for school meals. It estimates SNAP, and the income limits for the two programmes are different.
Official sources
What you can do next
If any child in your household does not already eat free, ask the school office for the application or complete it online through the district, and do it as soon as income changes rather than waiting for the new school year. If you receive SNAP, check that the school has matched every child - it occasionally misses one.