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The Data Behind the Calculator: Benefit Rules and Income Limits as JSON and CSV Files
The files of figures the calculator reads, each figure with the government page it comes from: what each file holds, when it last changed, and where it is.
The calculator works in your browser from a few public files of figures. They are the same files for everyone, they hold no one’s household, and nothing you type is sent to them or to us. Each figure in them carries the government page it comes from and the day it was checked, and the pages of this site print their figures from the same files.
| File | What it holds | Last changed | Size | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal rules and figures (JSON) | Every federal figure the calculator works with (the poverty guidelines, SNAP, WIC, school meals, Lifeline, the tax credits and the marketplace tax credit, SSI, SSDI, the Medicare Savings Programs, Extra Help, HUD's rent rules and more), each set with the day it starts and ends, and 662 government sources, each with the day it was checked. | 198 KB | /wp-content/plugins/bca-core/data/rules.json | |
| Each state's and DC's rules (JSON, one file each) | One file for each state and DC (states/OH.json is Ohio's): its own program names and limits where they are in our files (22 states and DC so far; for the others the calculator says "Not checked yet"), where to apply and who to call as read on the state's own pages, and HUD's figures for each county; every figure with its source. | 1.4 MB in all | …/data/states/OH.json (and every other state's code) | |
| Rules for keeping benefits (JSON) | The rules the keeping-benefits tools use: notices, appeal deadlines, renewals, reporting changes and the documents an office may ask for, each with the regulation it comes from (82 sources). | 143 KB | /wp-content/plugins/bca-core/data/keep.json | |
| Payment dates (JSON) | When SSI and Social Security pay, worked out from SSA's rules and the federal holidays (OPM), with the IRS's refund hold, SNAP's timing rules and the funding law. | 12 KB | /wp-content/plugins/bca-core/data/payments.json | |
| The list of data files (JSON) | Every file above with its fingerprint, which changes when the file does. | 2 KB | /wp-content/plugins/bca-core/data/index.json | |
| Income limits by state and household size (CSV) | The 22 states and DC whose rules are in our files so far (each has its own page), households of 1 to 8 people: each program's monthly income limit and the most TANF pays, as the state pages show them, with the period each figure is for. | 26 KB | /benefit-income-limits-by-state.csv |
Figures checked October 31, 2026. A file changes when the research behind it does; its "last changed" day moves only then.
What may be reused?
Our terms of use let anyone use the site’s tables and their CSV file free of charge, with credit to Benefits Calculator and a link to the page the table comes from. The figures themselves are the public rules of the agencies that run each program; the official page for each is named in the files and on Sources. The reuse section of the terms names the tables and the CSV file, not the JSON files.
How do programs find these files?
A description of the files in the OpenAPI 3.1 format, with each file’s address, the shape of what it holds and its current fingerprint, is at /openapi.json, and the list programs look for is at /.well-known/api-catalog (RFC 9727). Browsers keep these files for a year, so each file’s address carries a fingerprint (?v=) that changes when the file does; the description gives the current ones and is never kept for more than five minutes. The files only describe the rules: nothing is worked out on our server, and the calculator never sends anything.
Is every page here as text too?
Yes. Each page of the site also comes as plain text in Markdown, at its address with index.md after it (this page’s copy is /data/index.md), with the day it was published and last changed, the newest day it says its figures were checked, and the government pages it cites. The list of every page is in llms.txt, and every page with its sections in llms-full.txt.