Hunger In America
Please note that these statistics are pre-COVID 19
15.2%
Food Insecure Homes:
11.2 million: The number of children in America who live in “food insecure” homes, or 15.2%.
[USDA]
16.5%
Rural Children Struggling with Hunger:
16.5%: Percent of food insecure households with children who live in rural areas vs. inside metropolitan areas (13.5%).
[USDA]
16.8%
Food Insecure in New Mexico:
16.8%: Percent of households in New Mexico that are food insecure, giving it the highest rate in the nation. New Mexico is followed by Mississippi (15.9%), Louisiana (15.8%), Oklahoma (15.6%) and Arkansas (15.1%).
[USDA]
41%
Poor Children & Future College Education:
41%: How much less likely it is that a persistently poor child gets a college education.
- 37.2 million Americans live in food insecure households, including 26 million adults and 11.2 million children. [USDA]
- 11.1 percent of households (14.3 million households) were food insecure. [USDA]
- 4.3 percent of households (5.6 million households) experienced very low food security. [USDA]
- In 2016, 5.5 million seniors (over age 60), or 7.7 percent of all seniors were food insecure. [Feeding America]
- Food insecurity exists in every county in America, ranging from a low of 3 percent in Steele County, ND to a high of 36percent in Jefferson County, MS. [Feeding America]
- In 2018, 56 percent of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major federal food assistance programs –Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) — in the prior month. [USDA]
- $19,998: The federal poverty level for a family of 3. [Census]
- 38.1million: The number of people living in poverty in America, or 11.8% [Census]
- 11.9 million: The number of children living in poverty in America, or 16.2%. [Census]
- 4 in 10: The number of children in America who will spend at least one year of their childhoods in poverty. [Urban Institute]
- 62%: Only 62 percent of persistently poor children complete high school compared with 90 percent of children who never experience poverty. [U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty]
- 21%: The percentage of grandparents-raising-grandchildren who live under the poverty line. [Generations United]
- 21.2%: The percent of food-insecure Black households compared to Hispanic households (16.2%) and White households (8.1%). [USDA]
15.2%
Food Insecure Homes:
11.2 million: The number of children in America who live in “food insecure” homes, or 15.2%.
[USDA]
16.5%
Rural Children Struggling with Hunger:
16.5%: Percent of food insecure households with children who live in rural areas vs. inside metropolitan areas (13.5%).
[USDA]
16.8%
Food Insecure in New Mexico:
16.8%: Percent of households in New Mexico that are food insecure, giving it the highest rate in the nation. New Mexico is followed by Mississippi (15.9%), Louisiana (15.8%), Oklahoma (15.6%) and Arkansas (15.1%).
[USDA]
41%
Poor Children & Future College Education:
41%: How much less likely it is that a persistently poor child gets a college education.