SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) lifted 4 million people above the official poverty line in 2012, according to new data that the Census Bureau released today.  That’s the highest level on record (see chart).  (Census doesn’t adjust its data for population growth, but we did and confirmed that the share of the population that SNAP lifted out of poverty also stood at a record high.)

The official poverty measure does not count SNAP benefits when calculating a family’s income.  But, Census calculates how many people would be lifted out of poverty if it counted SNAP benefits as income.