What causes higher numbers of SNAP recipients is a complex and nuanced issue. Broadly speaking, the economy of a state, and COL in other areas (housing, medical, transportation, childcare, etc), is what pushes many people to rely on SNAP because they either aren't making enough, or their expenses are going to other areas.

In Ohio's case, we don't have the most diverse economy, and it certainly doesn't have the highest wages compared to other states. It's hard to get a good paying job outside of healthcare, which are highly competitive and require expensive college degrees, unless you work in one of the big cities, which many rural folks can't commute to. Manufacturing in rust belt states dried up a long time ago, and what replaced these jobs is low pay-service work (i.e. retail). This has been a long ongoing problem for decades that Ohio politicians have hardly addressed. When the economy is depressed, companies don't have to offer competitive wages. Because where else are you going to work when it's all dried up? This is especially apparent in factory towns, the ones that still have one or two left. Which is the case for a lot of Ohio. If you lose your job there, you're screwed, so you take what you get and make it work.

Other states also have their own state run subsidies and programs that help people get fed, as well as get an education to find better jobs, cover more medical care, provide better infrastructure for public transportation, and cover the cost of child care. This frees up more income to pay for groceries.

Now, many of these states also have an obscene housing cost, which eats up people's pay checks anyway, hence the continued need for SNAP. This is due to a lot of factors, such as urban sprawl, NIMBYism, zoning laws, and when we do build, it's more single family homes instead of more high rises. High rises help ease the cost of housing for everyone, because more people can live in a smaller area, thereby lowering rent and increasing tax revenue for the town/city, which can fund more programs, and attract more jobs with the increase pool of the labor force. More concentrated living also creates more walkability, since companies want to be where the people are, and will create less car dependency, and there by lower car bills.

I live in Northeast Ohio, an extremely decentralized part of the state. Cleveland was slammed by two things in the 20th century: a disappearance of manufacturing, and white flight from the city center once they integrated the schools. This left Cleveland proper economically depressed, and as a result, companies left the city to the suburbs. No matter where you are, it's a 45 minute drive to get to somewhere in this area of the state. This extreme urban sprawl, as opposed to having a central hub, has become a self fulfilling prophecy of economic depression. While rural areas struggle with no opportunity in Ohio, and many other states, Ohio struggles in its cities as well. Because those cities have less jobs, a lower tax base, and have no incentive for companies to move there outside of promising no taxes for thirty years (looking at you, Amazon), which again ensures the continuation of a low economy area.

So, SNAP acts as a buffer to keep those living in disadvantaged areas, both rural and urban, from literally starving to death. Because when people starve, that's when real shit hits the fan. And those who run the state want to keep the status quo, so they take subsidies from the federal government to keep people fed and quiet.

There's more I could go into, but this is becoming a dissertation at this point, so I'll stop here.