SNAP Work Requirements in Alaska

Check if the time limit applies to you Count your months

When the new rules started in Alaska

H.R. 1 lets Alaska and Hawaii ask for a "good faith" exemption while they get ready. Alaska DPA says USDA approved one starting November 1, 2025. It covers every borough and census area except the Municipality of Anchorage. So in practice, the new time limit rules mainly affect Anchorage residents. DPA's page has shown two different end dates for this exemption (October 31, 2026 and October 31, 2027). Ask DPA which one applies now. By law, these exemptions cannot last past December 31, 2028.

Waived areas in Alaska

Apart from the good faith exemption, USDA also approved a regular area waiver for 20 boroughs and census areas from November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026: Bethel, Bristol Bay, Chugach, Copper River, Denali, Dillingham, Haines, Hoonah-Angoon, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Kusilvak, Lake and Peninsula, Nome, Northwest Arctic, Petersburg, Prince of Wales-Hyder, Skagway, Southeast Fairbanks, Yakutat and Yukon-Koyukuk. That waiver used Alaska's special H.R. 1 rule: unemployment at least 1.5 times the national rate.

• All boroughs and census areas except the Municipality of Anchorage (good faith exemption)

If you live in a waived area, months there do not count toward your 3-month limit. Your state still keeps track, so the limit can apply again when the waiver ends. Waivers can end early, so confirm with your SNAP office.

Your 36-month period

DPA has not published how it sets the 36-month period.

You can get SNAP for only 3 countable months in that period unless you meet the 80-hour rule or are exempt. The time limit calculator helps you count.

How to meet and report the 80 hours

Job and training program: SNAP Employment and Training

DPA has not published details on how to report hours. Ask your DPA office.

Across all states, paid work, work for goods or services, volunteering, workfare and approved training count, and you can combine them. See what counts as work.

More Alaska details

• Alaska Native and American Indian people are exempt from the time limit under H.R. 1, wherever they live in Alaska.
• If you live in Anchorage and are 18 to 64 with no child under 14 in your SNAP household, you are the group most likely to face the time limit.

Contact

• Agency: Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance (DPA)
• Phone: we could not verify a statewide SNAP number on an official page. Use the agency link above or the USDA state directory to find your local office.

Federal rules that apply in Alaska

• Covered: adults 18 through 64 who can work, with no child under 14 in their SNAP household.
• Exempt: pregnancy; a health condition that keeps you from working; American Indian, Alaska Native, Urban Indian or California Indian; or being excused from the general work rules (caring for a child under 6 or a disabled person, unemployment benefits, 30 hours a week or $217.50 a week, half-time school, drug or alcohol treatment, TANF work rules). See all exemptions.
• Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth are no longer automatically exempt.
• If you lose SNAP, you can get it back by doing 80 hours in 30 days or becoming exempt. You can also ask for a fair hearing. See how to get SNAP back.