South Central Reporter

About 34,971 South Central Illinois residents – or about 23.8 percent of the region’s population – were on food stamp rolls in January 2017, according to a South Central Reporter analysis of 66 Illinois welfare offices.

Marion County serves 0.84 percent of Illinois food stamp recipients, according to data obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. That’s higher than the portion of the state’s population the county represents. About 0.3 percent of the 12.8 million people in Illinois reside in Marion County.

Illinois welfare offices are operated by the Illinois Department of Human Services, formerly known as the Illinois Department of Public Aid. It administers SNAP at offices in 52 of the state’s 102 counties, so residents in a county without an office would travel to one with an office. 

Those 52 counties account for about 92 percent of the state’s population. This may, in part, account for why the portion SNAP participants in a given county is higher than the portion of Illinois residents living in that county.

About 0.37 percent of Illinois SNAP recipients are served by the Macoupin County welfare office, while Montgomery County] represents 0.34 percent of total SNAP recipients. Food stamp recipients in Christian County numbered 0.32 percent of state SNAP recipients.

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Breakdown of food stamp recipients in South Central Illinois

Office location	County population	Recipients population January 2017	County as portion  of state population	County recipients as portion of state SNAP participants
Marion	38,339	15,735	0.30%	0.84%
Macoupin	46,045	6,877	0.36%	0.37%
Montgomery	28,898	6,309	0.23%	0.34%
Christian	33,642	6,050	0.26%	0.32%

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture