122 Grocery Stores That Accept WIC (+ the Stores That Don’t)

Woman and baby shopping at a grocery store that accepts WIC

Proper nutrition is vital, particularly for expectant moms, infants, and children. The federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) exists to provide the assistance needed to stay healthy.

This federal program is available in every state, and most regional and national grocery stores participate in the program by accepting WIC benefits.

Below, we list the stores that accept WIC and explain more about the program.

What Is WIC?

WIC is a federal assistance program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The WIC program provides supplemental food for pregnant women, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five, as well as nutrition education, counseling, and service referrals for mothers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds the WIC program, dispensing funds at the state level and allowing each state to operate its own WIC program. All states participate in the WIC program.

Like most government assistance programs, eligibility for WIC benefits depends on your income. You can use the USDA’s WIC pre-screening tool to find out if you’re eligible.

Unlike Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which can be used to buy nearly any type of food, WIC benefits only allow for the purchase of certain foods in specific amounts each month.

Staple foods provided by the WIC program include infant formula (although WIC encourages mothers to breastfeed for as long as possible), juice, milk, cheese, eggs, breakfast cereal, bread and whole-grain items, peanut butter, dry or canned legumes, and select fruits and vegetables.

In addition, WIC provides some medically necessary foods such as tofu and soy milk for women and children with food allergies and certain medical conditions.

The list of WIC-approved foods can vary by state. You can find out which foods your state allows on WIC by visiting the USDA website.

WIC benefits are issued by either paper food checks or an EBT card. (The USDA plans to phase out paper checks and move the system entirely to EBT cards.) You can use your WIC benefits only at stores that have been approved by your state WIC agency.

Note: In order to become WIC-approved, stores must apply and be approved at the state level. This means that while a popular chain store, such as Safeway, may be approved to accept WIC in one state, it may not be approved in another.

The List

The majority of major grocery stores and chain stores in the United States accept WIC as a form of payment.

Here’s the list of the most popular grocery stores that accept WIC, along with the states you can find these stores in.

Acme Market logo

Acme Markets

Albertsons logo

Albertsons

  • Locations: AR, AZ, CA, CO, ID, LA, MT, NV, NM, ND, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY
  • Find a store

Bashas logo

Bashas’

Big M logo

Big M Supermarkets

BigY logo

Big Y Foods

Brookshires Food logo

Brookshires

Carrs Safeway logo

Carrs-Safeway

Coborns logo

Coborn’s

Compare logo

Compare Foods Supermarket

CVS logo

CVS

FoodDepot logo

Food Depot

Food Lion logo

Food Lion

  • Locations: DE, GA, KY, MD, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV
  • Find a store

Foodland Hawaii logo

Foodland/Foodland Farms/Sack ’N Save

Foodland logo

Foodland Supermarkets

Market Basket logo

Market Basket

Fareway logo

Fareway

Festival Foods logo

Festival Foods

Food Bazaar logo

Food Bazaar Supermarkets

Foodtown logo

Foodtown

Fred Meyer logo

Fred Meyer

Giant Eagle logo

Giant Eagle

Giant Food logo

Giant Food Stores (including Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover)

Great Valu Markets logo

Great Valu Markets

Haggen logo

Haggen Food & Pharmacy

Harps logo

Harps Foods

Harvest Foods logo

Harvest Foods

Homeland logo

Homeland

Houchens logo

Houchens Markets (including Buehler’s Buy-Low, Food Giant, and Hank’s Market)

Hugos logo

Hugo’s

Hy-Vee

Hy-Vee

Kroger logo

Kroger

Note: Kroger brands include Baker’s Supermarkets, City Market, Dillons Supermarkets, Food 4 Less, Foods Co, Fry’s Food & Drug, Gerbes Super Markets, Harris Teeter, Jay C, King Soopers, Owen’s Pay Less Super Markets, QFC, Ralphs, Roundy’s, Ruler Foods, Scott’s, and Smith’s.

  • Locations: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NC, OH, OR, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
  • Find a store

Ingles logo

Ingles Markets, Sav-Mor Foods

Jewel Osco logo

Jewel-Osco

KVAT logo

K-VA-T Food Stores (including Food City and Super Dollar Discount Foods)

Key Food logo

Key Food

Lidl logo

Lidl

Lowes Foods logo

Lowes Foods

Lowes Market logo

Lowe’s Markets

Macs Fresh Market logo

Mac’s Fresh Market

Magruders logo

Magruder’s

Market Basket logo

Market Basket

Martins logo

Martin’s Foods

Martins Super Markets logo

Martin’s Super Markets

Meijer logo

Meijer

MET logo

Met Foodmarkets

Natural Grocers logo

Natural Grocers

  • Locations: AZ, CO, ID, KS, MT, MO, NE, NM, OK, OR, TX, UT, WY
  • Find a store

Piggly Wiggly logo

Piggly Wiggly

  • Locations: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MN, MO, MS, NC, OH, OK, SC, TN, VA, WV
  • Find a store

Price Chopper logo

Price Chopper

Price Rite logo

PriceRite Marketplace

  • Locations: CT, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA
  • Find a store

Publix logo

Publix

Quality Foods logo

Quality Foods

Raleys logo

Raley’s

Rameys logo

Ramey’s Marketplace

Rays Food Place logo

Ray’s Food Place

Red Apple Markets logo

Red Apple Markets

Redners logo

Redner’s Markets

Ridleys logo

Ridley’s Family Markets

Rite Aid logo

Rite Aid

  • Locations: AL, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, ID, IN, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MS, NV, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV
  • Find a store

Rosauers logo

Rosauers Supermarkets

Rouses logo

Rouses Supermarket

Safeway logo

Safeway

  • Locations: AR, CA, CO, HI, ID, LA, MT, NV, NM, ND, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY
  • Find a store

Save Mart logo

Save Mart Supermarkets (including Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, and FoodMaxx)

Schnucks logo

Schnucks

Shaws logo

Shaw’s Supermarket

Sheetz logo

Sheetz

ShopRite logo

ShopRite

BiLo logo

Southeastern Grocers (including BI-LO, Harveys, Winn-Dixie, and Fresco y Más)

Family Fare logo

SpartanNash (including Family Fare Supermarkets, VG’s Food and Pharmacy, D&W Fresh Market, SunMart, and Family Fresh Market)

Stop and Shop logo

Stop & Shop

Sun Fresh logo

Sun Fresh Market

Super 1 Foods Logo

Super 1 Foods

Save A Lot logo

SUPERVALU (including Save-A-Lot, Cub, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher’s, and Shoppers)

See our related research on where Save-A-Lot food comes from.

Target logo

Target

  • Locations: Nationwide, except Vermont; available at SuperTarget and select Target stores
  • Find a store

The Fresh Grocer logo

The Fresh Grocer

Thriftway logo

Thriftway

Tops Friendly Markets logo

Tops Friendly Markets

United Grocery logo

United Grocery Outlet

Vons logo

Vons

Walgreens logo

Walgreens

  • Locations: Nationwide at select store locations
  • Find a store

Walmart logo

Walmart

Wegmans logo

Wegmans

Weis Markets logo

Weis Markets

Wesselmans logo

Wesselman’s Supermarkets

Whole Foods logo

Whole Foods

Winco Foods logo

WinCo Foods

Woodmans logo

Woodman’s Market

For information on WIC-only grocery stores, see our related article.

Grocery Stores That Don’t Accept WIC

While most retail grocery stores in the United States accept WIC, a few regional and national chains don’t accept it.

These include:

  • ALDI
  • BJ’s Wholesale Club
  • Costco
  • Sam’s Club
  • Trader Joe’s

Most Popular Next Clicks

buy modafinil online where to buy modafinil