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Income Eligibility Scales for School Year 2026–27

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, 2026, through June 30, 2027

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

$ 20,748

$ 1,729

$ 865

$ 798

$ 399

2

$ 28,132

$ 2,345

$ 1,173

$ 1,082

$ 541

3

$ 35,516

$ 2,960

$ 1,480

$ 1,366

$ 683

4

$ 42,900

$ 3,575

$ 1,788

$ 1,650

$ 825

5

$ 50,284

$ 4,191

$ 2,096

$ 1,934

$ 967

6

$ 57,668

$ 4,806

$ 2,403

$ 2,218

$ 1,109

7

$ 65,052

$ 5,421

$ 2,711

$ 2,502

$ 1,251

8

$ 72,436

$ 6,037

$ 3,019

$ 2,786

$ 1,393

For each additional family member, add:

$ 7,384

$ 616

$ 308

$ 284

$ 142

Reduced-price Eligibility Scale
Meals and Snacks

Household Size Annual Monthly Twice Per Month Every Two Weeks Weekly

1

$ 29,526

$ 2,461

$ 1,231

$ 1,136

$ 568

2

$ 40,034

$ 3,337

$ 1,669

$ 1,540

$ 770

3

$ 50,542

$ 4,212

$ 2,106

$ 1,944

$ 972

4

$ 61,050

$ 5,088

$ 2,544

$ 2,349

$ 1,175

5

$ 71,558

$ 5,964

$ 2,982

$ 2,753

$ 1,377

6

$ 82,066

$ 6,839

$ 3,420

$ 3,157

$ 1,579

7

$ 92,574

$ 7,715

$ 3,858

$ 3,561

$ 1,781

8

$ 103,082

$ 8,591

$ 4,296

$ 3,965

$ 1,983

For each additional family member, add:

$ 10,508

$ 876

$ 438

$ 405

$ 203
Questions:   Nutrition Services Division | SNPInfo@cde.ca.gov
Last Reviewed: Friday, April 24, 2026
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