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.

[Urban Institute]

  • 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]