Skip to main content
California Department of Education Logo

Income Eligibility Scales for School Year 2025–26

Income Eligibility Guidelines for Free and Reduced-price Meals or Free Milk in Child Nutrition Programs.

Income Eligibility Guidelines
for Free and Reduced-price Meals or Free Milk
in Child Nutrition Programs

 

Effective from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026

Households with income at or below the following levels may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals or free milk. The household size and Income Eligibility Guidelines charts below have been prepared for you to copy and paste them into the Public Media Release and Letter to Households. Please note that the size of these charts will need to be adjusted manually.

National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs

  • Both free and reduced-price eligibility scales must appear in the Public Media Release
  • Only the reduced-price eligibility scale must appear in the Letter to Households

Special Milk Program

  • Only the free eligibility scale must appear in the Public Media Release and Letter to Households

Free Eligibility Scale
Meals, Snacks, and Milk

Household Size Annual Monthly Twice Per Month Every Two Weeks Weekly

1

$ 20,345

$ 1,696

$ 848

$ 783

$ 392

2

$ 27,495

$ 2,292

$ 1,146

$ 1,058

$ 529

3

$ 34,645

$ 2,888

$ 1,444

$ 1,333

$ 667

4

$ 41,795

$ 3,483

$ 1,742

$ 1,608

$ 804

5

$ 48,945

$ 4,079

$ 2,040

$ 1,883

$ 942

6

$ 56,095

$ 4,675

$ 2,338

$ 2,158

$ 1,079

7

$ 63,245

$ 5,271

$ 2,636

$ 2,433

$ 1,217

8

$ 70,395

$ 5,867

$ 2,934

$ 2,708

$ 1,354

For each additional family member, add:

$ 7,150

$ 596

$ 298

$ 275

$ 138

Reduced-price Eligibility Scale
Meals and Snacks

Household Size Annual Monthly Twice Per Month Every Two Weeks Weekly

1

$ 28,953

$ 2,413

$ 1,207

$ 1,114

$ 557

2

$ 39,128

$ 3,261

$ 1,631

$ 1,505

$ 753

3

$ 49,303

$ 4,109

$ 2,055

$ 1,897

$ 949

4

$ 59,478

$ 4,957

$ 2,479

$ 2,288

$ 1,144

5

$ 69,653

$ 5,805

$ 2,903

$ 2,679

$ 1,340

6

$ 79,828

$ 6,653

$ 3,327

$ 3,071

$ 1,536

7

$ 90,003

$ 7,501

$ 3,751

$ 3,462

$ 1,731

8

$ 100,178

$ 8,349

$ 4,175

$ 3,853

$ 1,927

For each additional family member, add:

$ 10,175

$ 848

$ 424

$ 392

$ 196

Questions:   Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609
Last Reviewed: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Recently Posted in Nutrition
  • Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Sponsor - 2026 (added 15-Jan-2026)
    Summer Food Service Program Sponsors Survey for summer 2026.
  • Salad Bars in the School Nutrition Programs (added 15-Jan-2026)
    Management Bulletin SNP-02-2026 clarifies that program operators will incur fiscal action for meal pattern violations when there are missing meal components or missing production records.
  • Waiver for Non-congregate Meals During Ramadan (added 14-Jan-2026)
    The Waiver for Non-congregate Meals During Ramadan allows approved school food authorities to offer non-congregate meals to students fasting during Ramadan.
  • Salad Bars in the School Nutrition Programs (added 14-Jan-2026)
    This management bulletin clarifies that program operators will incur fiscal action for meal pattern violations when there are missing meal components or missing production records.
  • Availability of the 2026-27 Breakfast Grant (added 08-Jan-2026)
    The School Breakfast Program (SBP) and Summer Meal Programs (SMP) Start-up and Expansion Grants, administered by the California Department of Education, provide schools with funding to start-up or expand their SBP and SMP.