Amazon’s Empire Is Quietly Fueled by Food Stamps and Medicaid

When you think of Amazon, the first images that usually pop up are endless rows of shelves, robots zipping around fulfillment centers, and a river of delivery trucks racing across the country. It feels like a private utility—an infrastructure that keeps the whole nation moving, from small‑town boutique owners to school teachers waiting for their next textbook.

But utilities, whether run by the government or a corporation, come with a price tag that isn’t always paid by the customer at the checkout. In Amazon’s case, the bill is being footed, at least in part, by taxpayers through programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid.

Fortune’s recent deep‑dive, based on data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, uncovered a startling trend: the number of Amazon employees who receive SNAP benefits jumped from a few thousand in 2020 to over twelve thousand in 2025. Medicaid rolls look similar, with roughly the same number of workers tapping that safety net.

To put those figures in context, Amazon’s profit margin exploded during the same five‑year span, soaring from $11.6 billion in 2020 to a staggering $77.7 billion in 2025. In other words, while executives celebrated record‑breaking earnings, a growing slice of the labor force was still struggling to put food on the table.

The GAO analysis didn’t single out Amazon as the lone culprit. Walmart, Uber, McDonald’s, and Dollar General also rank high among employers of SNAP and Medicaid recipients. Still, Amazon consistently lands near the top, making it a glaring example of how a megacorporation can lean on public assistance.

What’s perhaps most sobering is the broader picture. In 2024, about 14 million working‑age adults were enrolled in Medicaid, and 10.6 million relied on SNAP. Over 70 percent of those receiving grocery assistance worked at least 35 hours a week—hardly the image of a part‑time side gig.

“What this analysis really points to is the large number of people who have very low incomes and continue to have very low income,” said GAO’s Kathryn Larin. “These are families that are really barely able to make ends meet, and yet they are working, and they are working a lot.”

So, when you hear about Amazon’s lightning‑fast deliveries, remember there’s an invisible current powering that speed: government subsidies that help keep thousands of workers from going hungry. It’s a paradox that raises uncomfortable questions about who really pays for the convenience of next‑day shipping.

Amazon has even turned the lens inward, investigating its own staff for questioning AI‑driven data‑center practices. Whether it’s AI or SNAP, the conversation about accountability is just getting started.