The SNAP program provides government funding for low-income people to buy food. It therefore is an indication of how many people in a region rely on government assistance to meet their basic needs.

In 2013-17, 14% of households received SNAP, up from 12% in 2008-12 and close to the national rate of 13% and the state rate of 15%. The highest rate among counties in the region was in Orleans, where 17% of households received SNAP, and Ontario had the lowest rate at 10%. Rates were higher in the region's cities: 35% in Rochester, 23% in Geneva and 23% in Batavia, though only 13% of households in Canandaigua received the assistance. Most places had an increase from 2008-12 of a few percentage points.

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). Studies have found that ACS estimates of enrollment in public benefit programs tend to underestimate the true rate. The estimates reported above should be considered a lower bound of the true estimate. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.

Studies have found that national survey estimates (including the ACS) of enrollment in public benefit programs tend to underestimate the true rate due to underreporting by participants, when compared with state-level administrative data. Underreporting can occur for a variety of reasons, including the social stigma of program participation and participants' confusion about the source of the services they receive. For these reasons, the estimates reported above should be considered a lower bound of the true estimate.

Data for this indicator are expected to be released in December.