Eligibility

See if you may be eligible for WIC benefits here. This tool takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Women, Infant and Children (WIC) is available to pregnant, breast feeding and postpartum women, infants and children up to age five. To participate, these persons must:

  • Live in North Carolina
  • Have a family income less than 185% of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines (185% of the Federal Poverty guidelines per the Federal Register). A person receiving Medicaid, Work First Families Assistance (TANF), or assistance from the NC Food and Nutrition Services automatically meets the income eligibility requirement

  • Be at nutritional risk; A nutritionist or other health professional makes the nutritional risk assessment at no cost to the participant, usually at the local WIC office, examples of nutritional risk conditions are listed below:
    • Conditions that predispose a person to inadequate nutritional patterns such as lead poisoning, migrancy, alcohol or drug abuse
    • Documented nutrition-related medical conditions
    • Inadequate dietary intake
    • Abnormal anthropometric or hematological measurements

WIC Certification Periods

  • Pregnant women are certified for their pregnancy and up to six weeks postpartum. By 6 weeks postpartum they must be recertified as a postpartum or breastfeeding woman.
  • Non-breast feeding postpartum women are certified until six months postpartum.
  • Breastfeeding postpartum women are certified for up to 12 months postpartum.
  • Infants certified before six months of age are certified until their first birthday. Infants certified after six months of age are certified for six months.
  • Children are certified every twelve months until five years of age.

WIC Income Guidelines

Once the size and gross income of the economic unit (or household) have been determined and documented, staff use the poverty income guidelines included in the chart below to determine income eligibility. The guidelines are published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

A household (or economic unit) is defined as a person or group of persons, related or nonrelated, who usually (although not necessarily) live together, and whose production of income and consumption of goods or services are related. The income of everyone in the economic unit is counted to determine eligibility.

Income Eligibility

Please visit the Nutrition North Carolina website for income guidelines.

Note: A person who currently receives Medicaid, Work First, or Food and Nutrition Services (Food Stamps) automatically meets the income eligibility guidelines for WIC.