United States Department of Agriculture

Economic

Research

Service

Economic

Research

Report

Number 270

September 2019

Household Food Security 

in the United States in 2018

Alisha Coleman-Jensen

Matthew P. Rabbitt

Christian A. Gregory

Anita Singh

United States Department of Agriculture
Economic Research Service 

www.ers.usda.gov

United States Department of Agriculture

Recommended citation format for this publication:

Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Matthew P. Rabbitt, Christian A. Gregory, and Anita Singh. 

2019. Household Food Security in the United States in 2018, ERR-270, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

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United States Department of Agriculture

Economic

Research

Service

Economic

Research

Report

Number 270

September 2019

Abstract

An estimated 88.9 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year 

in 2018, with access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household 

members. The remaining households (11.1 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2017) were 

food insecure at least some time during the year, including 4.3 percent with very low food 

security (not significantly different from 4.5 percent in 2017), where the food intake of 

one or more household members was reduced and their eating patterns disrupted at times 

because the household lacked money and other resources for obtaining food. The 2018 

prevalence of food insecurity declined, for the first time, to pre-recession (2007) levels. 

Among children, changes from 2017 in food insecurity and very low food security were 

not statistically significant. Children and adults were food insecure in 7.1 percent of U.S. 

households with children in 2018; very low food security among children was 0.6 percent. 

In 2018, the typical food-secure household spent 21 percent more on food than the typical 

food-insecure household of the same size and household composition. About 56 percent 

of food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food 

and nutrition assistance programs (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, 

formerly food stamps); Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and 

Children (WIC); and the National School Lunch Program) during the month prior to the 

2018 survey. 

Keywords: food security, food security, food insecurity, food spending, food pantry, soup 

kitchen, emergency kitchen, material well-being, material hardship, Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program, SNAP, Food Stamp Program, National School Lunch Program, Special 

Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, WIC

Household Food Security in the 

United States in 2018

Alisha Coleman-Jensen, alisha.coleman-jensen@usda.gov

Matthew P. Rabbitt, matthew.rabbitt@usda.gov

Christian A. Gregory, christian.gregory@usda.gov

Anita Singh, USDA, Food and Nutrition Service
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About the Authors 

Alisha Coleman-Jensen is a sociologist and Matthew Rabbitt is an economist in the Food Assistance 

Branch, and Christian Gregory is an economist in the Diet, Safety, and Health Economics Branch, 

Food Economics Division, of the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Anita Singh is chief of the SNAP Evaluation Branch, SNAP Research and Analysis Division, Office 

of Policy Support, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jean Buzby, Constance Newman, Michael D. Smith, Jessica E. Todd, Jay 

Variyam, and Michele Ver Ploeg of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service 

(ERS), for their reviews. Thanks also to ERS editor Dale Simms and ERS designer Cynthia A. Ray 

for their work in producing the report.
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Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Household Food Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Methods .....................................................................2

Prevalence of Food Insecurity—National Conditions and Trends .........................6

Prevalence of Food Insecurity by Selected Household Characteristics .................... 14

Prevalence of Food Insecurity by State ............................................19

Household Spending on Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Methods ....................................................................25

Food Expenditures by Selected Household Characteristics .............................26

Food Expenditures and Household Food Security ....................................29

Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs and Food Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Methods ....................................................................30

Food Security of Households That Received Food and Nutrition Assistance ...............32

Participation in Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs by 

Food-Insecure Households ......................................................33

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Contents
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List of Tables

Table 1A—Households and individuals by food security status of household, 1998-2018. . . . . . . . . 7

Table 1B—Households with children by food security status and children 

by food security status of household, 1998-2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Table 2—Households by food security status and selected household characteristics, 2018. . . . . . 15

Table 3—Prevalence of food security and food insecurity in households with children 

by selected household characteristics, 2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Table 4—Prevalence of household food insecurity and very low food security by State, 

average 2016-18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Table 5—Change in prevalence of household food insecurity and very low food security 

by State, 2016-18 (average), 2013-15 (average), and 2006-08 (average). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 6—Weekly household food spending per person and relative to the household cost 

of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), 2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Table 7—Weekly household food spending per person and relative to the cost of the 

Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) by food security status, 2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Table 8—Percentage of households by food security status and participation in selected 

Federal food and nutrition assistance programs, 2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Table 9—Participation of food-insecure households in selected Federal food and 

nutrition assistance programs, 2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Additional tables are available in: Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, Matthew P. Rabbitt, Christian A. 

Gregory, and Anita Singh. 2019. Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United 

States in 2018, AP-081, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
ERS is a primary source 

of economic research and 

analysis from the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 

providing timely information on economic and policy 

issues related to agriculture, 

food, the environment, and 

rural America.

United States Department of Agriculture

A report summary from the Economic Research Service September 2019

Household Food Security in the 

United States in 2018

Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Matthew P. Rabbitt, Christian A. Gregory, 

and Anita Singh

What Is the Issue?

Most U.S. households have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy 

living—they are food secure. But some households experience food insecurity at times during the 

year, meaning their access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources. 

USDA’s food and nutrition assistance programs aim to increase food security by providing lowincome households access to food for a healthful diet, as well as nutrition education. USDA monitors the extent and severity of food insecurity in U.S. households through an annual, nationally 

representative survey sponsored and analyzed by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS). 

This report presents statistics from the survey that cover household food security, food expenditures, and use of Federal food and nutrition assistance programs in 2018.

What Did the Study Find? 

Main findings:

• The 2018 prevalence of food insecurity declined, for the first time, to the pre-recession 

(2007) level of 11.1 percent. 

• In 2018, 88.9 percent of U.S. households were food secure. The remaining 11.1 percent (14.3 

million households) were food insecure. Food-insecure households (those with low and 

very low food security) had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food 

for all their members due to a lack of resources. The decline from 2017 (11.8 percent) was 

statistically significant and continued a decline from a high of 14.9 percent in 2011.

• In 2018, 4.3 percent of U.S. households (5.6 million households) had very low food 

security, not significantly different from 4.5 percent in 2017. In this more severe range 

of food insecurity, the food intake of some household members was reduced and normal 

eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year due to limited resources.

Findings for households with children: 

• Children were food insecure at times during 2018 in 7.1 percent of U.S. households with 

children (2.7 million households), not significantly different from 7.7 percent in 2017. 

These households with food insecurity among children were unable at times to provide 

adequate, nutritious food for their children.

www.ers.usda.gov

 

Household Food Security 

in the United States in 2018

 

Summary
Prevalence of food insecurity in 2018 is down from 2017

 

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population 

Survey Food Security Supplement.

• While children are usually shielded from the disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake that characterize very low food security, in 2018 both children and adults experienced instances of very low food 

security in 0.6 percent of households with children (220,000 households), essentially unchanged from 0.7 

percent in 2017. These households with very low food security among children reported that children were 

hungry, skipped a meal, or did not eat for a whole day because there was not enough money for food.

Findings for population subgroups and States: 

• Rates of food insecurity were higher than the national average for the following groups: households with 

incomes near or below the Federal poverty line, all households with children and particularly households 

with children headed by single women or single men, women and men living alone, Black- and Hispanicheaded households, and households in principal cities.

• The prevalence of food insecurity varied considerably from State to State, ranging from 7.8 percent in New 

Hampshire to 16.8 percent in New Mexico in 2016-18. (Data for 3 years were combined to provide more 

reliable State-level statistics.)

Findings for food spending and Federal nutrition assistance participation:

• The typical (median) food-secure household spent 21 percent more for food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and composition. These estimates include food purchases made with 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

• About 56 percent of food-insecure households in the survey reported that, in the previous month, they had participated in one or more of the three largest Federal nutrition assistance programs (SNAP; Special Supplemental 

Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and National School Lunch Program). 

How Was the Study Conducted?

Data for the ERS food security reports come from an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau as 

the December supplement to the monthly Current Population Survey. ERS sponsors the annual Food Security 

Supplement survey and compiles and analyzes the responses. The 2018 survey covered 37,300 households, 

comprising a representative sample of about 130 million U.S. households. The survey asked one adult respondent 

per household questions about experiences and behaviors that indicate food insecurity during the calendar year, 

such as being unable to afford balanced meals, cutting the size of meals, or being hungry because of too little 

money for food. The food security status of the household was assigned based on the number of food-insecure 

conditions reported.

www.ers.usda.gov
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Household Food Security in the 

United States in 2018

Introduction

Since 1995, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has collected information annually on food access 

and adequacy, food spending, and sources of food assistance for the U.S. population. The information is collected in an annual survey, the Food Security Supplement, conducted by the U.S. Census 

Bureau as a supplement to the nationally representative Current Population Survey.1 A major 

impetus for this data collection is to provide information about the prevalence and severity of food 

insecurity in U.S. households. Annual monitoring of food security contributes to the effective operation of the Federal nutrition assistance programs as well as private food assistance programs and 

other government initiatives aimed at reducing food insecurity. Previous reports in the series are 

available on the ERS website.

This report updates the national statistics on food security in calendar year 2018, household food 

spending, and the use of Federal food and nutrition assistance by food-insecure households, using 

data collected in the December 2018 food security survey—the 24th annual survey in the Nation’s 

food security monitoring system. Additional statistics—including the prevalence of food insecurity 

during the 30 days prior to the food security survey, the frequency of food-insecure conditions, and 

use of food pantries and emergency kitchens—are available in the Statistical Supplement to this 

report (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2019). 

1See Coleman-Jensen (2015) for the history of the food security measurement project and the development of the food 

security measures.
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Household Food Security

Food security—access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life—is one of 

several conditions necessary for a population to be healthy and well nourished. This section provides 

information on food security and food insecurity in U.S. households over the course of the year 

ending in December 2018.

Methods

The statistics presented in this report are based on data collected in the Food Security Supplement 

to the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted in December 2018.2 The CPS currently includes 

about 50,000 households and is representative, at State and national levels, of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States. In December 2018, 37,300 households completed the 

Food Security Supplement; the remaining households were unable or unwilling to do so. Survey 

sample weights were calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau to indicate how many households were 

represented by each household that responded to the survey.3 All statistics in this report were calculated by applying the Food Security Supplement weights to responses by the surveyed households, so 

the statistics are nationally representative. 

Unless otherwise noted, statistical differences described in the text are significant at the 90-percent 

confidence level.4 Statistical significance depends both on the size of the difference of the estimates 

and the precision of the estimates—or the size of the standard error of the estimates. Standard errors 

vary across population subgroups.

Household food security statistics presented here are based on a measure of food security calculated 

from responses to a series of questions about conditions and behaviors that characterize households 

when they are having difficulty meeting basic food needs.5 Each question asks whether the condition 

or behavior occurred at any time during the previous 12 months and specifies a lack of money and 

other resources to obtain food as the reason. Voluntary fasting or dieting to lose weight are thereby 

excluded from the measure. The series includes three questions about food conditions of the household as a whole and seven about food conditions of adults in the household; if children are present, 

2The food security survey was conducted December 9-18, 2018.

3In 2018, 25.5 percent of households that responded to the monthly December CPS did not complete the Food Security 

Supplement. Reweighting of the Supplement takes into consideration income and other information about households that 

completed the labor-force portion of the survey but not the Food Security Supplement. This corrects, to some extent, biases 

that could result from nonresponse to the Supplement by households that completed only the labor-force part of the survey.

4Standard errors of national-level estimates from 2011 to the present were calculated using balanced repeated replication 

(BRR) methods based on replicate weights computed for the CPS Food Security Supplement by the U.S. Census Bureau. For 

years before 2011, standard errors of national estimates use a design factor of 1.6 based on the complex CPS sample design. 

State-level estimates from 2010 to the present use replicate weights computed for the CPS Food Security Supplement. Before 

2010, standard errors of State-level estimates were calculated using jackknife replication methods with “month in sample” 

groups considered as separate independent samples. This report uses the phrase essentially unchanged to describe differences 

between estimates of a statistic for 2 years that are not statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Standard 

errors of all estimates are available from the authors by request.

5The methods used to measure the extent and severity of food insecurity have been described in a number of studies 

(Hamilton et al., 1997a, 1997b; Andrews et al., 1998; Bickel et al., 1998; Carlson et al., 1999; Bickel et al., 2000; Nord and 

Bickel, 2002). See also the assessment of the measurement methods by a panel of the Committee on National Statistics 

(National Research Council, 2006). Further details on the development of the measure are provided on the ERS website.
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an additional eight questions about their food conditions are included (see box, “Questions Used To 

Assess the Food Security of Households in the CPS Food Security Survey,” page 4).6

Responses to the 18 food security questions are reported in tables S-5 to S-6 of the Statistical 

Supplement (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2019). The food security status of each interviewed household 

is determined by the number of food-insecure conditions and behaviors the household reports. 

Households are classified as food secure if they report no food-insecure conditions or only one 

or two food-insecure conditions. (Food-insecure conditions are indicated by responses of “often” 

or “sometimes” to questions 1-3 and 11-13; “almost every month” or “some months but not every 

month” to questions 5, 10, and 17; and “yes” to the other questions.) They are classified as food insecure if they report three or more food-insecure conditions (based on questions 1-10 for households 

without children and questions 1-18 for households with children).7 Households are classified as 

having food-insecure children if they report two or more food-insecure conditions among the children in response to questions 11-18.8

Food-insecure households are further classified as having either low food security or very low food 

security.

9 The very low food security category identifies households in which the food intake of one 

or more members was reduced and eating patterns disrupted because of insufficient money and other 

resources for food (see box, “What Is ‘Very Low Food Security’?” on page 5). Households without 

children are classified as having very low food security if they report six or more food-insecure 

conditions (based on questions 1-10). Households with children age 0-17 are classified as having very 

low food security if they report eight or more food-insecure conditions among adults and/or children 

(based on questions 1-18).10 They are further classified as having very low food security among 

children if they report five or more food-insecure conditions among the children (that is, if they 

respond affirmatively to five or more of questions 11-18).

6An official Spanish translation of the food security questions is used in the survey and available on the ERS website. 

ERS assessed the effect of interview language on Hispanics versus non-Hispanics and found no differences in the statistical 

properties of the food security measure (Rabbitt and Coleman-Jensen, 2017).

7To reduce the survey burden on higher income respondents, households with incomes above 185 percent of the Federal 

poverty line that give no indication of food-access problems on either of two preliminary screening questions are deemed to 

be food secure and are not asked the questions in the food security assessment series. The preliminary screening questions 

asked of all households are as follows:

• People do different things when they are running out of money for food in order to make their food or their food 

money go further. In the last 12 months, since December of last year, did you ever run short of money and try to 

make your food or your food money go further?

• Which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your household—enough of the kinds of food we want to 

eat, enough but not always the kinds of food we want to eat, sometimes not enough to eat, or often not enough to eat?

8Both qualitative and quantitative research studies have suggested that parents’ reports of their children’s food insecurity 

sometimes differed from adolescents’ self-reported food insecurity and that parents were sometimes unaware of the degree to 

which children reduced their own food intake due to household food insecurity (Fram et al., 2011; Nord and Hanson, 2012). 

The extent to which underreporting of children’s food insecurity may exist is unknown (see pp. 9-10 in Coleman-Jensen, 

McFall, and Nord (2013) for a discussion of research on parent-reported and self-reported food insecurity among children). 

A comprehensive review of diet quality and food security found evidence that adults shield children from food insecurity 

(Hanson and Connor, 2014).

9Prior to 2006, households with low food security were described as “food insecure without hunger” and households with 

very low food security were described as “food insecure with hunger.” Changes in these descriptions were made in 2006 at 

the recommendation of the Committee on National Statistics (National Research Council, 2006) in order to distinguish the 

physiological state of hunger from indicators of food availability. The criteria by which households were classified remained 

unchanged. 

10Implications of differences in raw score thresholds for very low food security between households with and without 

children are discussed in Nord and Coleman-Jensen (2014) and Coleman-Jensen, Rabbitt, and Gregory (2017).
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1. “We worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more.” Was that often, sometimes, or 

never true for you in the last 12 months? 

2. “The food that we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money to get more.” Was that often, sometimes, or 

never true for you in the last 12 months?

3. “We couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals.” Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months?

4. In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in the household ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals 

because there wasn’t enough money for food? (Yes/No)

5. (If yes to question 4) How often did this happen—almost every month, some months but not every month, or in 

only 1 or 2 months?

6. In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t enough money for food? 

(Yes/No)

7. In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry, but didn’t eat, because there wasn’t enough money for food? (Yes/No)

8. In the last 12 months, did you lose weight because there wasn’t enough money for food? (Yes/No)

9. In the last 12 months did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t 

enough money for food? (Yes/No)

10. (If yes to question 9) How often did this happen—almost every month, some months but not every month, or in 

only 1 or 2 months?

(Questions 11-18 were asked only if the household included children age 0-17) 

11. “We relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed our children because we were running out of money to buy 

food.” Was that often, sometimes, or never true for you in the last 12 months? 

12. “We couldn’t feed our children a balanced meal, because we couldn’t afford that.” Was that often, sometimes, or 

never true for you in the last 12 months?

13. “The children were not eating enough because we just couldn’t afford enough food.” Was that often, sometimes, or 

never true for you in the last 12 months?

14. In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of any of the children’s meals because there wasn’t enough money 

for food? (Yes/No)

15. In the last 12 months, were the children ever hungry but you just couldn’t afford more food? (Yes/No)

16. In the last 12 months, did any of the children ever skip a meal because there wasn’t enough money for food? (Yes/No) 

17. (If yes to question 16) How often did this happen—almost every month, some months but not every month, or in 

only 1 or 2 months?

18. In the last 12 months did any of the children ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money for 

food? (Yes/No)

Coding of Responses

Questions 1-3 and 11-13 are coded as affirmative (i.e., possibly indicating food insecurity) if the response is “often” 

or “sometimes.” Questions 5, 10, and 17 are coded as affirmative if the response is “almost every month” or “some 

months but not every month.” The remaining questions are coded as affirmative if the response is “yes.”

Assessing Food Security Status in Households without Children

Households without children are classified as food insecure if they report 3 or more indications of food insecurity in 

response to the first 10 questions; they are classified as having very low food security if they report 6 or more foodinsecure conditions out of the first 10 questions. 

Assessing Food Security Status in Households with Children Age 0-17

Households with children are classified as food insecure if they report 3 or more indications of food insecurity in 

response to the entire set of 18 questions; they are classified as having very low food security if they report 8 or more 

food-insecure conditions in response to the entire set of 18 questions. 

The food security status of children in the household is assessed by responses to the child-referenced questions (questions 11-18). Households reporting two or more of these conditions are classified as having food insecurity among 

children. Households reporting five or more are classified as having very low food security among children.

Questions Used To Assess the Food Security of Households in the CPS Food 

Security Supplement
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Very low food security can be characterized in terms 

of the conditions that households in this category 

reported in the food security survey. Households 

without children classified as having very low food 

security reported six or more food-insecure conditions, and households with children reported eight or 

more food-insecure conditions, including conditions 

among both adults and children. Thus, the conditions 

reported by respondents reflect the definition of “very 

low food security”: at times during the year, the food 

intake of household members was reduced and their 

normal eating patterns were disrupted because the 

household lacked money and other resources for 

food. In the 2018 survey, households classified as 

having very low food security (representing an estimated 5.6 million households nationwide) reported 

the following specific conditions:

• 98 percent reported having worried that their food 

would run out before they got money to buy more.

• 97 percent reported that the food they bought just 

did not last and they did not have money to get 

more.

• 96 percent reported that they could not afford to 

eat balanced meals.

• 97 percent reported that an adult had cut the size 

of meals or skipped meals because there was not 

enough money for food; 90 percent reported that 

this had occurred in 3 or more months.

• 94 percent reported that they had eaten less 

than they felt they should because there was not 

enough money for food.

• 69 percent reported that they had been hungry but 

did not eat because they could not afford enough 

food.

• 47 percent reported having lost weight because 

they did not have enough money for food.

• 32 percent reported that an adult did not eat 

for a whole day because there was not enough 

money for food; 25 percent reported that this had 

occurred in 3 or more months.

As noted above, all households without children 

classified as having very low food security reported 

at least six of these conditions. The majority of 

households with very low food security, 70 percent, 

reported seven or more food-insecure conditions. 

(Conditions reported by households with children 

were similar to those without children, but the 

reported food-insecure conditions of both adults and 

children were taken into account.) 

What Is “Very Low Food Security”?

Percentage of households reporting each indicator of food insecurity, by food security status, 2018

 

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Low and very low food security differ in the extent and character of the adjustments the household 

makes to its eating patterns and food intake. Households classified as having low food security have 

reported multiple indications of food acquisition problems and reduced diet quality, but typically 

have reported few, if any, indications of reduced food intake. Those classified as having very low 

food security have reported multiple indications of reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns 

due to inadequate resources for food. In most, but not all households with very low food security, the 

survey respondent reported that he or she was hungry at some time during the year but did not eat 

because there was not enough money for food.

Prevalence of Food Insecurity—National Conditions and Trends

An estimated 88.9 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2018 

(fig. 1, table 1A). In concept, “food secure” means that all household members had access at all 

times to enough food for an active, healthy life (Anderson, 1990).11 The remaining 11.1 percent (14.3 

million households) were food insecure at some time during the year. Food insecurity means that 

households were, at times, unable to acquire adequate food for one or more household members 

because they had insufficient money and other resources for food. A majority of food-insecure 

households—those classified as having low food security (but not very low food security)—avoided 

substantial reductions or disruptions in food intake, in some cases by relying on a few basic foods 

and reducing variety in their diets. But 4.3 percent (5.6 million households) had very low food security. Very low food security means that households were food insecure to the extent that eating 

patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and their food intake reduced, at 

least some time during the year, because they could not afford enough food.

Among U.S. households with children under age 18, 86.1 percent were food secure in 2018. The 

remaining 13.9 percent of households with children were food insecure at some time during the year 

(fig. 2, table 1B). This prevalence is down significantly from 15.7 percent in 2017. Parents and caregivers often are able to maintain normal or near-normal diets and meal patterns for their children, 

even when the parents themselves are food insecure. In about half of food-insecure households with 

children in 2018, only adults were food insecure (6.8 percent of households with children). However, 

both children and adults were food insecure in 7.1 percent of households with children (2.7 million 

households) in 2018. In 0.6 percent of households with children (220,000 households), food insecurity among children was so severe that caregivers reported that children were hungry, skipped a 

meal, or did not eat for a whole day because there was not enough money for food. These households 

are described as having very low food security among children. Sometimes only older children 

in such households suffer the more severe effects of food insecurity, while younger children are 

protected from those effects (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2013; Nord, 2009a).

11Food security statistics, as operationally measured for this report using survey data, are based on household responses 

to items about whether the household was able to obtain enough food to meet its needs. This operational measure does not 

specifically address whether the household members’ food intake was sufficient for active, healthy lives—the conceptual 

definition of food security. Nonetheless, research based on other data collections has found survey-based measures of food 

security to be statistically associated with various outcomes involving health, nutrition, and children’s development in a manner that generally supports the link between the report’s survey-based measure of food security and the conceptual definition 

of food security (see, for example, Coleman-Jensen et al., 2013; Gregory and Coleman-Jensen, 2017; Nord, 2009a; Nord and 

Hopwood, 2007; Nord and Kantor, 2006).
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Figure 1

U.S. households by food security status, 2018

 

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement. 

Table 1A

Households and individuals by food security status of household, 1998-2018

Food insecure

Category

and year Total1 Food secure All

With low 

food security

With very low 

food security

1,000 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent

Households:

2018 129,245 114,934 88.9 14,311 11.1 8,730 6.8 5,581 4.3

2017 127,272 112,254 88.2 15,018 11.8 9,261 7.3 5,757 4.5

2016 126,401 110,850 87.7 15,551 12.3 9,413 7.4 6,138 4.9

2015 125,164 109,315 87.3 15,849 12.7 9,540 7.7 6,309 5.0

2014 124,044 106,618 86.0 17,426 14.0 10,488 8.4 6,938 5.6

2013 122,579 105,070 85.7 17,509 14.3 10,664 8.7 6,845 5.6

2012 121,546 103,914 85.5 17,632 14.5 10,679 8.8 6,953 5.7

2011 119,484 101,631 85.1 17,853 14.9 11,014 9.2 6,839 5.7

2010 118,756 101,527 85.5 17,229 14.5 10,872 9.1 6,357 5.4

2009 118,174 100,820 85.3 17,354 14.7 10,601 9.0 6,753 5.7

2008 117,565 100,416 85.4 17,149 14.6 10,426 8.9 6,723 5.7

2007 117,100 104,089 88.9 13,011 11.1 8,262 7.0 4,749 4.1

2006 115,609 102,961 89.1 12,648 10.9 8,031 6.9 4,617 4.0

2005 114,437 101,851 89.0 12,586 11.0 8,158 7.1 4,428 3.9

2004 112,967 99,473 88.1 13,494 11.9 9,045 8.0 4,449 3.9

2003 112,214 99,631 88.8 12,583 11.2 8,663 7.7 3,920 3.5

2002 108,601 96,543 88.9 12,058 11.1 8,259 7.6 3,799 3.5

2001 107,824 96,303 89.3 11,521 10.7 8,010 7.4 3,511 3.3

2000 106,043 94,942 89.5 11,101 10.5 7,786 7.3 3,315 3.1

1999 104,684 94,154 89.9 10,529 10.1 7,420 7.1 3,109 3.0

1998 103,309 91,121 88.2 12,188 11.8 8,353 8.1 3,835 3.7

All individuals (by food security status of household):2

2018 323,005 285,778 88.5 37,227 11.5 24,577 7.6 12,650 3.9

2017 320,418 280,374 87.5 40,044 12.5 27,159 8.5 12,885 4.0

2016 319,029 277,825 87.1 41,204 12.9 26,556 8.3 14,648 4.6

2015 316,161 273,923 86.6 42,238 13.4 27,605 8.7 14,633 4.6

2014 313,305 265,170 84.6 48,135 15.4 30,922 9.9 17,213 5.5

Continued—
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Table 1A

Households and individuals by food security status of household, 1998-2018—continued

Food insecure

Category

and year Total1 Food secure All

With low 

food security

With very low 

food security

1,000 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent

All individuals (by food security status of household):2

2013 310,853 261,775 84.2 49,078 15.8 31,974 10.3 17,104 5.5

2012 308,361 259,395 84.1 48,966 15.9 31,787 10.3 17,179 5.6

2011 305,893 255,773 83.6 50,120 16.4 33,232 10.9 16,888 5.5

2010 304,034 255,202 83.9 48,832 16.1 32,777 10.8 16,055 5.3

2009 301,750 251,588 83.4 50,162 16.6 32,499 10.8 17,663 5.9

2008 299,567 250,459 83.6 49,108 16.4 31,824 10.6 17,284 5.8

2007 297,042 260,813 87.8 36,229 12.2 24,287 8.2 11,942 4.0

2006 294,010 258,495 87.9 35,515 12.1 24,395 8.3 11,120 3.8

2005 291,501 256,373 87.9 35,128 12.1 24,349 8.4 10,779 3.7

2004 288,603 250,407 86.8 38,196 13.2 27,535 9.5 10,661 3.7

2003 286,410 250,155 87.3 36,255 12.7 26,622 9.3 9,633 3.4

2002 279,035 244,133 87.5 34,902 12.5 25,517 9.1 9,385 3.4

2001 276,661 243,019 87.8 33,642 12.2 24,628 8.9 9,014 3.3

2000 273,685 240,454 87.9 33,231 12.1 24,708 9.0 8,523 3.1

1999 270,318 239,304 88.5 31,015 11.5 23,237 8.6 7,779 2.9

1998 268,366 232,219 86.5 36,147 13.5 26,290 9.8 9,857 3.7

Adults (by food security status of household):2

2018 249,443 223,390 89.6 26,053 10.4 16,576 6.6 9,477 3.8

2017 246,517 219,013 88.8 27,504 11.2 17,796 7.2 9,708 3.9

2016 245,200 216,934 88.5 28,266 11.5 17,498 7.1 10,768 4.4

2015 242,706 213,586 88.0 29,120 12.0 18,235 7.5 10,885 4.5

2014 239,937 207,125 86.3 32,812 13.7 20,425 8.5 12,387 5.2

2013 237,219 203,913 86.0 33,306 14.0 21,115 8.9 12,191 5.1

2012 234,730 201,662 85.9 33,068 14.1 20,708 8.8 12,359 5.3

2011 231,385 197,923 85.5 33,462 14.5 21,371 9.2 12,091 5.2

2010 229,129 196,505 85.8 32,624 14.2 21,357 9.3 11,267 4.9

2009 227,543 194,579 85.5 32,964 14.5 20,741 9.1 12,223 5.4

2008 225,461 193,026 85.6 32,435 14.4 20,320 9.0 12,115 5.4

2007 223,467 199,672 89.4 23,795 10.6 15,602 7.0 8,193 3.7

2006 220,423 197,536 89.6 22,887 10.4 15,193 6.9 7,694 3.5

2005 217,897 195,172 89.6 22,725 10.4 15,146 7.0 7,579 3.5

2004 215,564 191,236 88.7 24,328 11.3 16,946 7.9 7,382 3.4

2003 213,441 190,451 89.2 22,990 10.8 16,358 7.7 6,632 3.1

2002 206,493 184,718 89.5 21,775 10.5 15,486 7.5 6,289 3.0

2001 204,340 183,398 89.8 20,942 10.2 14,879 7.3 6,063 3.0

2000 201,922 181,586 89.9 20,336 10.1 14,763 7.3 5,573 2.8

1999 198,900 179,960 90.5 18,941 9.5 13,869 7.0 5,072 2.5

1998 197,084 174,964 88.8 22,120 11.2 15,632 7.9 6,488 3.3

1Totals exclude households for which food security status is unknown because household respondents did not give a valid response to any of the 

questions in the food security scale. In 2018, these exclusions represented 378,000 households (0.3 percent of all households).

2The food security survey measures food security status at the household level. Not all individuals residing in food-insecure households were 

directly affected by the households’ food insecurity.Similarly, not all individuals in households classified as having very low food security were 

subject to the reductions in food intake and disruptions in eating patterns that characterize this condition. Young children, in particular, are often 

protected from effects of the households’ food insecurity.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey 

Food Security Supplement.
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Figure 2

U.S. households with children by food security status of adults and children, 2018

Food-insecure households—13.9%

Food-insecure

children and 

adults—7.1%

Food-insecure adults only—6.8%

Low food security among children—6.5%

Very low food security among children—0.6%

Food-secure 

households—86.1%

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.

The food security survey is designed to measure food security status at the household level. While it 

is informative to examine the number of persons living in food-insecure households, these statistics 

should be interpreted carefully. Within a food-insecure household, each household member may be 

affected differently by the household’s food insecurity. Some members—particularly young children—

may experience only mild effects or none at all, while adults are more severely affected. It is more 

precise, therefore, to describe these statistics as representing “persons living in food-insecure households” rather than as representing “food-insecure persons.” Similarly, “persons living in households 

with very low food security” is a more precise description than “persons with very low food security.”

In 2018, 37.2 million people lived in food-insecure households (table 1A, bottom panel). They constituted 11.5 percent of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population and included 26.1 million adults 

and 11.2 million children (table 1B, bottom panel). About 6.0 million children (8.2 percent) lived in 

households in which 1 or more child was food insecure. About 9.5 million adults (3.8 percent) lived in 

households with very low food security (table 1A), and 540,000 children (0.7 percent of children) lived 

in households with very low food security among children (table 1B, bottom panel).

Statistical Supplement tables S-2 and S-3 present estimates of the number of people and the 

number of children in households in each food security status and household type (ColemanJensen et al., 2019).
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Table 1B

Households with children by food security status and children by food security status of household, 1998-2018

Category

and year Total1

Food-secure

households

Food-insecure

households2

Households with foodinsecure children3Households with very low 

food security among children

1,000 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent

Households with children:

2018 37,612 32,369 86.1 5,243 13.9 2,658 7.1 220 0.6

2017 37,942 31,975 84.3 5,967 15.7 2,926 7.7 250 0.7

2016 38,400 32,058 83.5 6,342 16.5 3,069 8.0 298 0.8

2015 38,978 32,519 83.4 6,459 16.6 3,022 7.8 274 0.7

2014 39,079 31,590 80.8 7,489 19.2 3,665 9.4 422 1.1

2013 38,486 30,978 80.5 7,508 19.5 3,814 9.9 360 0.9

2012 39,201 31,354 80.0 7,847 20.0 3,910 10.0 463 1.2

2011 38,803 30,814 79.4 7,989 20.6 3,862 10.0 374 1.0

2010 39,419 31,447 79.8 7,972 20.2 3,861 9.8 386 1.0

2009 39,525 31,114 78.7 8,411 21.3 4,208 10.6 469 1.2

2008 39,699 31,364 79.0 8,335 21.0 4,361 11.0 506 1.3

2007 39,390 33,160 84.2 6,230 15.8 3,273 8.3 323 0.8

2006 39,436 33,279 84.4 6,157 15.6 3,312 8.4 221 0.6

2005 39,601 33,404 84.4 6,197 15.6 3,244 8.2 270 0.7

2004 39,990 32,967 82.4 7,023 17.6 3,808 9.5 274 0.7

2003 40,286 33,575 83.3 6,711 16.7 3,606 9.0 207 0.5

2002 38,647 32,267 83.5 6,380 16.5 3,456 8.9 265 0.7

2001 38,330 32,141 83.9 6,189 16.1 3,225 8.4 211 0.6

2000 38,113 31,942 83.8 6,171 16.2 3,282 8.6 255 0.7

1999 37,884 32,290 85.2 5,594 14.8 3,089 8.2 219 0.6

1998 38,036 31,335 82.4 6,701 17.6 3,627 9.5 331 0.9

Children (by food security status of household):4

2018 73,562 62,388 84.8 11,174 15.2 5,999 8.2 540 0.7

2017 73,901 61,361 83.0 12,540 17.0 6,541 8.9 540 0.7

2016 73,829 60,891 82.5 12,938 17.5 6,519 8.8 703 1.0

2015 73,455 60,337 82.1 13,118 17.9 6,377 8.7 541 0.7

2014 73,368 58,045 79.1 15,323 20.9 7,949 10.8 914 1.2

2013 73,634 57,862 78.6 15,772 21.4 8,585 11.7 765 1.0

2012 73,631 57,733 78.4 15,898 21.6 8,290 11.3 977 1.3

2011 74,508 57,850 77.6 16,658 22.4 8,565 11.5 845 1.1

2010 74,905 58,697 78.4 16,208 21.6 8,458 11.3 976 1.3

2009 74,207 57,010 76.8 17,197 23.2 8,957 12.1 988 1.3

2008 74,106 57,433 77.5 16,673 22.5 9,098 12.3 1,077 1.5

2007 73,575 61,140 83.1 12,435 16.9 6,766 9.2 691 0.9

2006 73,587 60,959 82.8 12,628 17.2 7,065 9.6 430 0.6

2005 73,604 61,201 83.1 12,403 16.9 6,718 9.1 606 0.8

2004 73,039 59,171 81.0 13,868 19.0 7,823 10.7 545 0.7

2003 72,969 59,704 81.8 13,265 18.2 7,388 10.1 420 0.6

2002 72,542 59,415 81.9 13,127 18.1 7,397 10.2 567 0.8

2001 72,321 59,620 82.4 12,701 17.6 6,866 9.5 467 0.6

2000 71,763 58,867 82.0 12,896 18.0 7,018 9.8 562 0.8

1999 71,418 59,344 83.1 12,074 16.9 6,996 9.8 511 0.7

1998 71,282 57,255 80.3 14,027 19.7 7,840 11.0 716 1.0

1Totals exclude households for which food security status is unknown because they did not give a valid response to any of the questions in the 

food security scale. In 2018, these exclusions represented 152,000 households with children (0.4 percent of all households with children). 

Children are age 0-17. 

2Food-insecure households are those with low or very low food security among adults or children or both.

3In some food-insecure households with children, only adults were food insecure. Households with food-insecure children are those with low or 

very low food security among children. 

4The food security survey measures food security status at the household level. Not all children residing in food-insecure households were directly 

affected by the households’ food insecurity. Similarly, not all children in households classified as having very low food security among children 

were subject to the reductions in food intake and disruptions in eating patterns that characterize this condition. Young children, in particular, are 

often protected from effects of the households’ food insecurity.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey 

Food Security Supplement.
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When interpreting food security statistics in this report, bear in mind that households were classified as having low or very low food security based on their experience of the conditions indicated 

in the module at any time during the previous 12 months. The prevalence of these conditions on 

any given day is far below the corresponding annual prevalence. For example, the prevalence of 

very low food security during the 30 days prior to the survey is 2.4 percent (table S-4) and the 

prevalence on an average day during the 30-day period prior to the December 2018 survey is an 

estimated 0.6-0.8 percent of households (0.8 million to 1.0 million households; see box, “When 

Food Insecurity Occurs in U.S. Households, It Is Usually Recurrent But Not Constant,” on page 

11).12 Children, along with adults, suffered very low food security in an estimated 36,000 to 

47,000 households (0.09 to 0.12 percent of all U.S. households with children) on an average day 

during the same period.

From 2017 to 2018, there was a statistically significant decline in the prevalence of food insecurity 

from 11.8 percent to 11.1 percent (fig. 3, table 1a). This continues 6 years of declining food insecurity from a high of 14.9 percent in 2011, and is the first year that food insecurity returned to the 11.1 

percent pre-recession level of 2007. Year-to year declines in food insecurity from 2016 (12.3 percent) 

to 2017 and from 2014 (14.0 percent) to 2015 (12.7 percent) were statistically significant. Some yearto-year changes were not statistically significant; that is, the changes were within the range that could 

have resulted from sampling variation. The cumulative decline from 2011 (14.9 percent) to 2014 (14.0 

percent) was statistically significant. In the previous decade, food insecurity had increased from 10.7 

percent in 2001 to 11.9 percent in 2004, declined to about 11 percent in 2005-07, then increased significantly in 2008 (to 14.6 percent), and remained essentially unchanged (that is, the difference was not 

statistically significant) at that level in 2009 (14.7 percent) and 2010 (14.5 percent).

The prevalence of very low food security in 2018 (4.3 percent) was not significantly different from 

2017 (fig. 3, table 1a). There were statistically significant declines in very low food security from 4.9 

percent in 2016 to 4.5 percent in 2017 and from 5.6 percent in 2014 to 5.0 percent in 2015. Before 

that, the prevalence of very low food security was essentially unchanged from 2011 (5.7 percent) 

through 2014. The prevalence of very low food security was also 5.7 percent in 2008 and 2009. Prior 

to 2008, the prevalence of very low food security had increased from 3.3 percent in 2001 to 3.9 

percent in 2004, and remained essentially unchanged through 2007 (4.1 percent).

From 2017 to 2018, there was a statistically significant decline in the prevalence of food insecurity 

in households with children from 15.7 percent to 13.9 percent (fig. 4, table 1b). Food insecurity in 

households with children in 2018 was lower than in any year back to 1998. Households with food 

insecurity among children in 2018 (7.1 percent) was not significantly different from the prevalence 

in 2017 (7.7 percent) or 2015 (7.8 percent). Households with food insecurity among children was also 

at the lowest level compared with any year back to 1998. Households with very low food security 

among children was essentially unchanged from 2017 (0.7 percent) to 2018 (0.6 percent). Households 

with very low food security among children in 2018 was also not statistically significantly different 

from the prevalence in 2016 or 2015, or in 1999 through 2007. Households with very low food security among children was significantly lower in 2018 than in any year from 2008 through 2014.

12Average daily prevalence of the various behaviors, experiences, and conditions characterizing very low food security 

is calculated based on the proportion of households reporting the condition at any time during the previous 30 days and the 

average number of days in which the condition occurred. The average daily prevalence for each condition is calculated as the 

product of the 30-day prevalence and the average number of days experienced divided by 30. The ratio of daily prevalence 

to monthly prevalence of the various indicator conditions provides the basis for approximating the average daily prevalence 

of very low food security during the reference 30-day period. The daily rate of very low food security is expressed as a range 

whose lower and upper bounds are based on the minimum and maximum ratio of daily prevalence to 30-day prevalence. See 

table S-9 in the online Statistical Supplement (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2019).
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When households experience very low food security in 

the United States, the resulting instances of reduced food 

intake and disrupted eating patterns are usually occasional 

or episodic, but not usually constant. The food security 

measurement methods used in this report are designed 

to register these occasional or episodic occurrences. The 

questions used to assess households’ food security status 

ask whether a condition, experience, or behavior occurred 

at any time in the past 12 months, and households can 

be classified as having very low food security based on a 

single, severe episode during the year. Readers should be 

mindful of this when interpreting food-insecurity statistics. 

Analyses of additional information collected in the food 

security survey on how frequently various food-insecure 

conditions occurred during the year, whether they occurred 

during the 30 days prior to the survey, and, if so, in how 

many days provide insight into the frequency and duration 

of food insecurity in U.S. households. These analyses reveal 

that in 2018:

• About one-fourth of U.S. households with very low food 

security at any time during the year experienced the 

associated conditions rarely or occasionally—in only 1 

or 2 months of the year. For three-fourths of households, 

the conditions were recurrent, experienced in 3 or more 

months of the year.

• For about one-fourth of food-insecure households and 

one-third of those with very low food security, occurrence of the associated conditions was frequent or 

chronic. That is, the conditions occurred often, or in 

almost every month.

• On average, households that were food insecure at some 

time during the year were food insecure in 7 months 

during the year. During the 30-day period ending in 

mid-December 2018, 7.7 million households (5.9 percent 

of all households) were food insecure—about 54 percent 

of the number that were food insecure at any time 

during the year (see Statistical Supplement table S-4, 

Coleman-Jensen et al., 2019).

• Similarly, households with very low food security at 

some time during the year experienced the associated 

conditions, on average, in 7 months during the year. 

During the 30-day period ending in mid-December 

2018, 3.1 million households (2.4 percent of all households) had very low food security—about 56 percent of 

the number with very low food security at some time 

during the year (see Statistical Supplement table S-4). 

• Most households that had very low food security at 

some time during a month experienced the associated 

conditions in 1 to 7 days of the month. The average 

daily prevalence of very low food security during the 

30-day period ending in mid-December 2018 was 

between 0.8 million and 1.0 million households (0.6 to 

0.8 percent of all households)—about 14 to 18 percent 

of the annual prevalence. 

• The daily prevalence of very low food security among 

children during the 30-day period ending in midDecember 2018 was probably between 36,000 and 

47,000 households (0.09 to 0.12 percent of households 

with children)—about 16 to 21 percent of the annual 

prevalence. 

• The omission of homeless families and individuals 

from these daily statistics biases the statistics downward, and the bias may be substantial relative to the 

estimates, especially for the most severe conditions.

(Statistical Supplement tables S-7 to S-9 (Coleman-Jensen et 

al., 2019) provide information on how often conditions indicating food insecurity occurred, as reported by respondents 

to the December 2018 Food Security Supplement. See Nord 

et al. (2000) for more information about the frequency of 

food insecurity. See Ryu and Bartfeld (2012) and Wilde et 

al. (2010) for more information about longer term patterns 

of food insecurity.)

Prevalence of food insecurity and very low food 

security, by reference period (2018)

 

NA = Estimated average daily occurrence of food insecurity is not 

available because the survey did not collect information on the number of days that less severe food-insecure conditions occurred.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from 

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau,

2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.

When Food Insecurity Occurs in U.S. Households, 

It Is Usually Recurrent but Not Constant
13

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Figure 3

Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity and very low food security in U.S. households, 

2001-2018

Percent of households

Food insecurity

(including low and very low food security)

Very low food security

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

2001 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.

Figure 4

Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity in households with children, 2001-2018

Percent of households with children

Food insecurity among children

Food insecurity in households with children 

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

Very low food security among children

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Prevalence of Food Insecurity by Selected Household 

Characteristics

The prevalence of food insecurity varied considerably in 2018 among households with different 

demographic and economic characteristics (table 2). Differences in food security across demographic and geographic groups reflect, in part, differences in income across those groups; though no 

adjustment is made for income in the statistics presented in this report, food insecurity was strongly 

associated with income. For example, 35.3 percent of households with annual incomes below the 

official poverty line (household income-to-poverty ratio under 1.00) were food insecure, compared 

with just 5.4 percent of those with incomes at or above 185 percent of the poverty line (Table S-1 in 

the Statistical Supplement (Coleman-Jensen at al., 2019) shows food insecurity by selected household characteristics for households with annual income below 130 percent of the poverty line).13

Rates of food insecurity were below the national average of 11.1 percent for married-couple families with children (8.3 percent), households with more than one adult and no children (7.5 percent), 

households with elderly persons (7.5 percent), and the elderly living alone (8.9 percent).14 The prevalence of food insecurity was also below the national average for households headed by White, nonHispanic adults (8.1 percent).

Rates of food insecurity were higher than the national average in 2018 for the following groups: 

• All households with children (13.9 percent)15

• Households with children under age 6 (14.3 percent) 

• Households with children headed by a single woman (27.8 percent) or a single man (15.9 

percent)16 and other households with children (21.1 percent)

• Women living alone (14.2 percent) and men living alone (12.5 percent)

• Households with Black, non-Hispanic (21.2 percent) and Hispanic (16.2 percent) heads 

of household 

• Households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty threshold (29.1 percent).

13The Federal poverty line was $25,465 for a family of four (two adults and two children) in 2018.

14“Elderly” in this report refers to persons age 65 and older.

15About half of the difference in food insecurity between households with and without children results from a difference 

in the measures applied to the two types of households. Responses to questions about children as well as adults are considered 

in assessing the food security status of households with children, but for both types of households, a total of three indications 

of food insecurity is required for classification as food insecure. Even with the child-referenced questions omitted from the 

scale, however, in 2018, 11.9 percent of households with children would be classified as food insecure (that is, as having food 

insecurity among adults), compared with 9.9 percent for households without children. Comparisons of very low food security 

are not biased substantially by this measurement issue because a higher threshold is applied to households with children, consistent with the larger number of questions taken into consideration (Nord and Coleman-Jensen, 2014). See Coleman-Jensen, 

Rabbitt, and Gregory (2017) for a discussion of a comparable classification method for households with and without children.

16Some households with children headed by a single woman or a single man as classified for these analyses included 

other adults, who may have been parents, siblings, cohabiting partners, adult children, other relatives of the reference person, 

or unrelated roomers or boarders.
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Table 2

Households by food security status and selected household characteristics, 2018

Food insecure

Category Total1 Food secure All

With low 

food security

With very low 

food security

1,000 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent

All households 129,245 114,934 88.9 14,311 11.1 8,730 6.8 5,581 4.3

Household composition:

With children < 18 yrs 37,612 32,369 86.1 5,243 13.9 3,750 9.9 1,493 4.0

With children < 6 yrs 16,306 13,967 85.7 2,339 14.3 1,720 10.5 619 3.8

Married-couple families 24,598 22,558 91.7 2,040 8.3 1,633 6.6 407 1.7

Female head, no spouse 9,349 6,753 72.2 2,596 27.8 1,715 18.4 881 9.4

Male head, no spouse 3,238 2,722 84.1 516 15.9 346 10.6 170 5.3

Other household with child2 427 337 78.9 90 21.1 NA NA NA NA

With no children < 18 yrs 91,633 82,565 90.1 9,068 9.9 4,980 5.4 4,088 4.5

More than one adult 54,274 50,222 92.5 4,052 7.5 2,413 4.5 1,639 3.0

Women living alone 20,225 17,352 85.8 2,873 14.2 1,552 7.7 1,321 6.5

Men living alone 17,134 14,991 87.5 2,143 12.5 1,015 5.9 1,128 6.6

With elderly 39,125 36,191 92.5 2,934 7.5 1,918 4.9 1,016 2.6

Elderly living alone 14,988 13,652 91.1 1,336 8.9 824 5.5 512 3.4

Race/ethnicity of households:

White, non-Hispanic 84,975 78,106 91.9 6,869 8.1 4,109 4.9 2,760 3.2

Black, non-Hispanic 16,613 13,087 78.8 3,526 21.2 2,021 12.1 1,505 9.1

Hispanic3 18,101 15,164 83.8 2,937 16.2 2,018 11.1 919 5.1

Other, non-Hispanic 9,556 8,577 89.8 979 10.2 582 6.0 397 4.2

Household income-to-poverty ratio:

Under 1.00 12,140 7,855 64.7 4,285 35.3 2,356 19.4 1,929 15.9

Under 1.30 17,061 11,419 66.9 5,642 33.1 3,186 18.7 2,456 14.4

Under 1.85 26,836 19,033 70.9 7,803 29.1 4,584 17.1 3,219 12.0

1.85 and over 70,795 66,964 94.6 3,831 5.4 2,517 3.5 1,314 1.9

Income unknown 31,614 28,937 91.5 2,677 8.5 1,629 5.2 1,048 3.3

Area of residence:4

Inside metropolitan area 111,051 99,053 89.2 11,998 10.8 7,299 6.6 4,699 4.2

In principal cities5 37,881 32,877 86.8 5,004 13.2 2,984 7.9 2,020 5.3

Not in principal cities 55,847 50,855 91.1 4,992 8.9 3,083 5.5 1,909 3.4

Outside metropolitan area 18,194 15,882 87.3 2,312 12.7 1,430 7.9 882 4.8

Census geographic region:

Northeast 22,517 20,227 89.8 2,290 10.2 1,341 6.0 949 4.2

Midwest 27,791 24,781 89.2 3,010 10.8 1,914 6.9 1,096 3.9

South 49,814 43,829 88.0 5,985 12.0 3,582 7.2 2,403 4.8

West 29,123 26,098 89.6 3,025 10.4 1,892 6.5 1,133 3.9

NA = Not reported; fewer than 10 households in the survey with this characteristic had very low food security.

1Totals exclude households for which food security status is unknown because household respondents did not give a valid response to any of the 

questions in the food security scale. In 2018, these exclusions represented 378,000 households (0.3 percent of all households)..

2Households with children in complex living arrangements, e.g., children of other relatives or unrelated roommate or boarder.

3Hispanics may be of any race.

4Metropolitan area residence is based on 2013 Office of Management and Budget delineation. Prevalence rates by area of residence are comparable with those for 2014 and later but are not precisely comparable with those of earlier years. 

5Households within incorporated areas of the largest cities in each metropolitan area. Residence inside or outside of principal cities is not identified for about 16 percent of households in metropolitan statistical areas.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Across residential classifications, food insecurity was higher in principal cities of metropolitan areas (13.2 

percent) and nonmetropolitan (rural) areas (12.7 percent) than in suburbs/exurbs and other metropolitan 

areas outside principal cities (8.9 percent).17 Compared with the national average, food insecurity was 

higher in principal cities and lower in metropolitan areas outside principal cities, but not significantly 

different from the national average in nonmetropolitan areas. Regionally, the prevalence of food insecurity in the Northeast (10.2 percent) was significantly below the U.S. average, while the prevalence in 

the South (12.0 percent) was significantly above the U.S. average. The prevalence of food insecurity was 

significantly higher in the South than in each of the other three regions (table 2).

Statistics in table 2 can also be used to calculate the share that each demographic group contributes 

to the population of food-insecure households. Among all food-insecure households in 2018, 36.6 

percent were households with children, 18.1 percent were female-headed households with children, 

and 14.3 percent were married-couple households with children.18 About 21 percent of all foodinsecure households included elderly adults. Low-income households with reported incomes below 

185 percent of the poverty threshold made up the majority of food-insecure households, 54.5 percent. 

Households with reported incomes at or above 185 percent of poverty made up about 27 percent of 

all food-insecure households in 2018.

The prevalence of very low food security in various types of households followed a pattern similar 

to that observed for food insecurity (table 2). Percentages were lower than the 2018 national average 

of 4.3 percent for married couples with children (1.7 percent); multiple-adult households with 

no children (3.0 percent); households with elderly persons (2.6 percent); elderly living alone (3.4 

percent); households headed by White, non-Hispanics (3.2 percent); households with incomes at or 

above 185 percent of the poverty line (1.9 percent); and households in suburbs and exurbs outside 

principal cities within metropolitan areas (3.4 percent).

The prevalence of very low food security was significantly higher than the national average (4.3 

percent) for the following groups: 

• Households with children headed by a single woman (9.4 percent) 

• Women living alone (6.5 percent) and men living alone (6.6 percent)

• Households headed by Black, non-Hispanics (9.1 percent) and Hispanics (5.1 percent)

• Households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty line (12.0 percent)

• Households located in principal cities (5.3 percent) 

• Households in the South (4.8 percent).

17Revised metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and principal cities within them were delineated by the Office of Management and Budget in 2013, based on revised standards developed by the U.S. Census Bureau in collaboration with other Federal agencies. The revised delineations were implemented beginning with the 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security 

Supplement. Food security prevalence statistics by area of residence for 2014 and later are comparable, but are not precisely 

comparable with corresponding statistics from earlier years. Principal cities include the incorporated areas of the largest city 

in each MSA and other cities in the MSA that meet specified criteria based on population size and commuting patterns.

18For example, the share of food-insecure households that are female-headed households with children can be calculated 

as (2,596/14,311) = 0.181. Similarly, the share of food-insecure households that are married-couple households with children 

is (2,040/14,311) = 0.143.
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In 7.1 percent of households with children, one or more child was food insecure in 2018 (table 3).19

Among household categories, the percentage of households with food-insecure children was lower in 

married-couple households (3.5 percent); White, non-Hispanic households (5.1 percent); households 

headed by non-Hispanics of other, or multiple, races (4.8 percent); households with incomes at or 

above 185 percent of the poverty line (2.9 percent); and metropolitan households located in suburbs 

and exurbs outside of principal cities (5.4 percent). The percentage of households with food-insecure 

children was higher for female-headed households (15.9 percent); Black, non-Hispanic households 

(14.8 percent); households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty line (16.5 percent); and 

households in principal cities (9.1 percent).

Compared with the prevalence for all households with children (0.6 percent), very low food security 

among children was less prevalent in married-couple families (0.2 percent); in households headed by 

White, non-Hispanic adults (0.3 percent); and in households with incomes at or above 185 percent of 

the poverty line (0.3 percent). Very low food security among children was more prevalent in households headed by a single woman (1.7 percent); households headed by Black, non-Hispanic adults (1.4 

percent); households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty line (1.4 percent); and households located in principal cities (1.1 percent). 

The prevalence of food insecurity declined from 2017 for a number of population subgroups (fig 

5).20 Food insecurity declined significantly for all households with children (from 15.7 percent in 

2017 to 13.9 percent in 2018), households with children under age 6 (16.4 percent to 14.3 percent), 

married couples with children (9.5 percent to 8.3 percent), and households with children headed by 

single women (30.3 percent to 27.8 percent) and single men (from 19.7 percent to 15.9 percent). Food 

insecurity also declined in White, non-Hispanic households (8.8 percent to 8.1 percent), Hispanic 

households (18.0 percent to 16.2 percent), households with incomes below 185 percent of poverty 

(30.8 percent to 29.1 percent), metropolitan households (11.5 percent to 10.8 percent), and households in the South (13.4 percent to 12.0 percent). There were no statistically significant increases in 

food insecurity between 2017 and 2018.

The prevalence of very low food security (fig. 6) declined significantly from 2017 to 2018 among 

households with elderly (from 3.1 percent in 2017 to 2.6 percent in 2018); White, non-Hispanic 

households (3.6 percent to 3.2 percent); and households in the Midwest (4.8 percent to 3.9 percent). 

There was one statistically significant increase in very low food security from 2017 to 2018—very 

low food security in the Northeast increased from 3.3 percent to 4.2 percent.

19Households are classified as having food insecurity among children if they report two or more food-insecure conditions 

among children in response to questions 11-18 in box on page 4.

20Estimates of food insecurity and very low food security for 2017 were published in Household Food Security in the 

United States in 2017 (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2018).
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Table 3

Prevalence of food security and food insecurity in households with children by selected household 

characteristics, 2018

Category Total1

Food-secure

households

Food-insecure

households2

Households with

food-insecure

children3

Households with 

very low 

food security

among children

1,000 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent 1,000 Percent

All households with children 37,612 32,369 86.1 5,243 13.9 2,658 7.1 220 0.6

Household composition:

With children < 6 yrs 16,306 13,967 85.7 2,339 14.3 1,091 6.7 63 0.4

Married-couple families 24,598 22,559 91.7 2,039 8.3 873 3.5 46 0.2

Female head, no spouse 9,349 6,752 72.2 2,597 27.8 1,483 15.9 162 1.7

Male head, no spouse 3,238 2,721 84.0 517 16.0 269 8.3 NA NA 

Other household with child4 427 337 78.9 90 21.1 NA NA NA NA 

Race/ethnicity of households:

White, non-Hispanic 21,059 18,863 89.6 2,196 10.4 1,067 5.1 60 0.3

Black, non-Hispanic 5,136 3,840 74.8 1,296 25.2 759 14.8 72 1.4

Hispanic5 8,108 6,745 83.2 1,363 16.8 673 8.3 77 0.9

Other, non-Hispanic 3,310 2,922 88.3 388 11.7 159 4.8 NA NA 

Household income-to-poverty ratio:

Under 1.00 4,426 2,729 61.7 1,697 38.3 969 21.9 94 2.1

Under 1.30 6,911 4,534 65.6 2,377 34.4 1,331 19.3 132 1.9

Under 1.85 9,940 6,831 68.7 3,109 31.3 1,637 16.5 143 1.4

1.85 and over 19,820 18,531 93.5 1,289 6.5 571 2.9 52 0.3

Income unknown 7,852 7,006 89.2 846 10.8 449 5.7 NA NA 

Area of residence:6

Inside metropolitan area 32,534 28,131 86.5 4,403 13.5 2,253 6.9 205 0.6

In principal cities7 10,281 8,543 83.1 1,738 16.9 938 9.1 113 1.1

Not in principal cities 17,562 15,642 89.1 1,920 10.9 950 5.4 73 0.4

Outside metropolitan area 5,079 4,239 83.5 840 16.5 405 8.0 NA NA 

Census geographic region:

Northeast 6,057 5,264 86.9 793 13.1 423 7.0 NA NA 

Midwest 7,901 6,751 85.4 1,150 14.6 554 7.0 52 0.7

South 14,561 12,361 84.9 2,200 15.1 1,121 7.7 67 0.5

West 9,093 7,994 87.9 1,099 12.1 560 6.2 68 0.7

NA = Not reported; fewer than 10 households in the survey with this characteristic had very low food security among children.

1Totals exclude households for which food security status is unknown because they did not give a valid response to any of the questions in the 

food security scale. In 2018, these exclusions represented 152,000 households with children (0.4 percent of all households with children).

2Food-insecure households are those with low or very low food security among adults or children or both.

3In some food-insecure households with children, only adults were food insecure. Households with food-insecure children are those with low or 

very low food security among children.

4Households with children in complex living arrangements, e.g., children of other relatives or unrelated roommate or boarder.

5Hispanics may be of any race. 

6Metropolitan area residence is based on 2013 Office of Management and Budget delineation. Prevalence rates by area of residence are comparable with those for 2014 and later but are not precisely comparable with those of earlier years. 

7Households within incorporated areas of the largest cities in each metropolitan area. Residence inside or outside of principal cities is not identified for about 14 percent of households with children in metropolitan statistical areas.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 Current Population 

Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Prevalence of Food Insecurity by State 

The prevalence of food insecurity varies considerably by State. In addition to household-level characteristics such as income, employment, and household structure, the prevalence of food insecurity is 

also affected by State-level characteristics, such as average wages, cost of housing, unemployment, and 

State-level policies that affect access to unemployment insurance, the State Earned Income Tax Credit, 

and nutrition assistance programs (Bartfeld et al., 2006; Bartfeld and Men, 2017). State-level estimates 

were obtained by averaging 3 years of data (2016-18) in order to have a larger sample size in each State 

to provide more reliable statistics (more precise estimates). Estimated prevalence rates of food insecurity 

during this 3-year period ranged from 7.8 percent in New Hampshire to 16.8 percent in New Mexico; 

estimated prevalence rates of very low food security ranged from 2.8 percent in New Hampshire to 6.8 

percent in Alabama and Louisiana.21

The margin of error for State food insecurity rates should be considered when interpreting these 

statistics, especially when comparing prevalence rates across States. The margin of error reflects 

sampling variation—the uncertainty associated with estimates that are based on information from 

a limited number of households in each State.22 The margins of error presented in table 4 indicate 

the range (above or below the estimated prevalence rate) that is 90 percent likely to include the true 

prevalence rate. For example, considering the margins of error, it is not certain that the prevalence 

of very low food security was higher in Alabama and Louisiana than in the States with the next 14 

highest prevalence rates.

Taking into account margins of error of the State and U.S. estimates, the prevalence of food insecurity was higher (i.e., statistically significantly higher) than the national average in 12 States (AL, AR, 

IN, KY, LA, MS, NC, NM, OH, OK, TX, and WV) and lower than the national average in 16 States 

(CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, MA, MN, MT, ND, NH, NJ, NY, VA, VT, WA, and WI).23 In the remaining 

22 States and the District of Columbia, differences from the national average were not statistically 

significant. The prevalence of very low food security was higher than the national average in 10 

States (AL, AR, KS, LA, MS, NM, OH, OK, TX, and WV), lower than the national average in 11 

States (CA, HI, ID, MA, MN, ND, NH, NJ, NY, VT, and WI), and not significantly different from 

the national average in 29 States and the District of Columbia.

State-level rates of food insecurity and very low food security for 2016-18 are compared with 

2013-15 and 2006-08 averages in table 5. Prevalence rates for 2013-15 are from Household Food 

Security in the United States in 2015 (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2016). The 2006-08 rates are from 

Household Food Security in the United States, 2008 (Nord et al., 2009) and are presented as a baseline to assess changes in State-level food security conditions over the past decade.24

21A map of the States showing the prevalence of food insecurity for 2016-18 is available for download on the ERS website.

22Margin of error is calculated as 1.645 times the standard error of the estimated prevalence rate. Standard errors were estimated using balanced repeated replication (BRR) methods based on replicate weights for the CPS Food Security Supplement.

23Standard error of difference assumes that there is no correlation between national and individual State estimates.

24Prevalence rates for 1996-98 reported in Prevalence of Food Insecurity and Hunger, by State, 1996-1998 (Nord et al., 

1999) are not directly comparable with the rates reported here because of differences in screening procedures in the CPS 

Food Security Supplements from 1995 to 1998. Statistics for 1996-98, adjusted to be comparable with those for recent years, 

are presented in Statistical Supplement to Food Security in the United States in 2010, table S-4 (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2011). 

Standard errors of State-level estimates for 2006-08 were calculated using jackknife replication methods with “month-insample” groups considered as separate independent samples (see Nord et al., 1999).
20

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Figure 5

Prevalence of food insecurity, 2017 and 2018

All households

Household composition:

 With children < 18 yrs

 With children < 6 yrs

 Married-couple families

 Female head, no spouse

 Male head, no spouse

 With no children < 18 yrs

 More than one adult

 Women living alone

 Men living alone

 With elderly

 Elderly living alone

Race/ethnicity of households:

 White, non-Hispanic

 Black, non-Hispanic

 Hispanic

 Other, non-Hispanic

Household income-to-poverty ratio:

 Under 1.00

 Under 1.30

 Under 1.85

 1.85 and over

Area of residence:

 Inside metropolitan area

 In principal cities

 Not in principal cities

 Outside metropolitan area

Census geographic region:

 Northeast

 Midwest

 South

 West

2017

2018

0 10 20 30 40

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Percent of households

*Change from 2017 to 2018 was statistically significant with 90-percent confidence (t > 1.645).

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2017 and 2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement. 
21

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Figure 6

Prevalence of very low food security, 2017 and 2018

2017

2018

All households

Household composition:

 With children < 18 yrs

 With children < 6 yrs

 Married-couple families

 Female head, no spouse

 Male head, no spouse

 With no children < 18 yrs

 More than one adult

 Women living alone

 Men living alone

 With elderly

 Elderly living alone

Race/ethnicity of households:

 White, non-Hispanic

 Black, non-Hispanic

 Hispanic

 Other, non-Hispanic

Household income-to-poverty ratio:

 Under 1.00

 Under 1.30

 Under 1.85

 1.85 and over

Area of residence:

 Inside metropolitan area

 In principal cities

 Not in principal cities

 Outside metropolitan area

Census geographic region:

 Northeast

 Midwest

 South

 West

0 5 10 15 20

*

*

*

*

Percent of households

*Change from 2017 to 2018 was statistically significant with 90-percent confidence (t > 1.645).

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2017 and 2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement
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There were no statistically significant increases in the State-level prevalence of food insecurity from 

2013-15 to 2016-18, while food insecurity declined significantly in 22 States (AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, 

CO, GA, ID, LA, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, TN, TX, WA, and WI) and the District 

of Columbia (table 5). During the same period, the prevalence of very low food security declined 

significantly in 13 States (CA, CT, FL, GA, ID, MA, MO, MT, NH, NJ, NY, OR, and VT), with no 

statistically significant increases.

There was a statistically significant percentage-point increase in the prevalence of food insecurity 

from 2006-08 to 2016-18 in six States, with statistically significant declines in seven States and the 

District of Columbia. The prevalence of very low food security increased significantly from 2006-08 

to 2016-18 in four States, with statistically significant declines in four States. Changes not marked as 

statistically significant (*) in table 5 were within ranges that could have resulted from sampling variation (that is, a non-zero difference between sample estimates, based on the households that happen 

to be chosen for the sample, which is consistent with no actual change in food security in the State’s 

general population).
23

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Table 4

Prevalence of household food insecurity and very low food security by State, average 2016-18

Number of households

Food insecurity

(low or very low food security) Very low food security

States

Average 

2016-181 Interviewed Prevalence Margin of error2 Prevalence Margin of error2

Number Number Percent

Percentage 

points Percent

Percentage 

points

U.S. 127,639,000 115,576 11.7 0.20 4.6 0.14

AK 267,000 1,351 10.8 1.72 4.3 1.00

AL 1,977,000 2,199 14.7 * 1.86 6.8 * 1.34

AR 1,235,000 2,012 15.1 * 2.14 6.1 * 1.31

AZ 2,699,000 1,906 12.4 1.37 5.1 0.99

CA 14,011,000 9,015 10.6 * 0.70 3.9 * 0.41

CO 2,377,000 1,269 9.1 * 1.43 3.6 1.10

CT 1,426,000 1,045 12.4 2.13 4.2 1.35

DC 321,000 2,496 10.6 1.19 4.5 0.93

DE 377,000 1,238 10.5 1.87 4.5 1.20

FL 8,679,000 4,822 11.7 0.92 4.2 0.62

GA 4,023,000 2,693 11.3 1.62 3.8 0.77

HI 488,000 1,469 8.0 * 1.43 3.2 * 0.79

IA 1,323,000 1,451 9.2 * 1.47 3.9 1.10

ID 639,000 1,904 9.8 * 1.58 3.3 * 0.78

IL 4,995,000 3,275 10.7 1.07 4.4 0.68

IN 2,708,000 1,843 13.5 * 1.57 4.8 0.98

KS 1,160,000 1,576 13.8 2.39 6.2 * 1.58

KY 1,763,000 1,549 14.7 * 1.82 5.7 1.37

LA 1,859,000 2,697 15.8 * 1.29 6.8 * 0.94

MA 2,776,000 2,317 9.3 * 1.24 3.2 * 0.64

MD 2,322,000 1,367 11.1 1.85 5.2 1.36

ME 568,000 1,173 13.6 2.47 5.9 1.45

MI 4,080,000 2,556 12.9 1.53 5.3 1.02

MN 2,247,000 1,565 8.6 * 2.05 3.3 * 1.02

MO 2,494,000 1,807 12.0 1.96 4.4 1.05

MS 1,180,000 2,475 15.9 * 1.79 6.3 * 1.11

MT 449,000 2,394 10.3 * 1.34 3.9 0.81

NC 4,203,000 2,575 13.9 * 1.46 5.5 1.05

ND 319,000 1,852 8.8 * 1.25 3.6 * 0.82

NE 775,000 1,404 11.4 1.33 4.7 1.21

NH 537,000 1,622 7.8 * 1.55 2.8 * 0.84

NJ 3,411,000 2,142 8.5 * 1.26 3.1 * 0.69

NM 836,000 2,209 16.8 * 1.84 5.8 * 1.01

NV 1,131,000 1,433 12.9 1.82 5.4 1.27

NY 7,870,000 4,421 10.5 * 0.95 3.8 * 0.53

OH 4,728,000 3,230 13.2 * 1.14 5.8 * 0.84

OK 1,539,000 1,696 15.6 * 2.08 6.1 * 1.29

OR 1,691,000 1,740 11.1 1.62 4.8 1.16

PA 5,283,000 3,036 11.1 1.28 4.2 0.74

RI 434,000 1,089 11.0 2.01 4.7 1.32

SC 2,099,000 1,823 11.0 2.18 4.0 1.00

SD 352,000 1,449 10.9 1.80 4.8 1.23

TN 2,709,000 2,357 12.4 1.46 5.2 0.75

TX 10,384,000 6,053 14.0 * 1.05 5.4 * 0.71

UT 1,041,000 1,663 9.8 2.30 3.2 1.57

VA 3,260,000 2,178 10.1 * 1.43 4.8 0.96

VT 264,000 1,704 9.6 * 1.38 3.3 * 0.81

WA 2,960,000 2,210 10.3 * 1.29 4.0 0.87

WI 2,377,000 1,875 8.9 * 1.15 3.4 * 0.73

WV 758,000 2,567 15.7 * 2.27 5.9 * 1.01

WY 234,000 1,784 12.6 1.44 5.0 1.07

*Difference from U.S. average was statistically significant with 90-percent confidence (t > 1.645). Standard error of differences assumes that there 

is no correlation between national and individual State estimates.

1Totals exclude households for which food security status is unknown because household respondents did not give a valid response to any of 

the questions in the food security scale. These exclusions represented about 0.3 percent of all households in 2016, 0.3 percent in 2017, and 0.3 

percent in 2018.

2Margin of error with 90-percent confidence (1.645 times the standard error of the estimated prevalence rate). Standard errors were estimated 

using balanced repeated replication (BRR) methods based on replicate weights for the CPS Food Security Supplement.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Current 

Population Survey Food Security Supplements.
24

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Table 5

Change in prevalence of household food insecurity and very low food security by State, 2016-18 

(average), 2013-15 (average), and 2006-08 (average)1

States

Food insecurity (low or very low food security) Very low food security

Average 

2016-18

Average 

2013-15

Average 

2006-08

Change 

2013-15 

to

2016-18 

Change 

2006-08

to

2016-18

Average 

2016-18

Average 

2013-15

Average 

2006-08

Change 

2013-15 

to

2016-18 

Change 

2006-08 

to

2016-18

————— Percent ————— Percentage points ————— Percent ————— Percentage points

U.S. 11.7 13.7 12.2 -2.0* -.5* 4.6 5.4 4.6 -0.8* 0.0

AK 10.8 13.3 11.6 -2.5* -.8 4.3 4.4 4.4 -.1 -.1

AL 14.7 17.6 13.3 -2.9* 1.4 6.8 7.3 5.4 -.5 1.4

AR 15.1 19.2 15.9 -4.1* -.8 6.1 7.4 5.6 -1.3 .5

AZ 12.4 14.9 13.2 -2.5* -.8 5.1 6.0 4.9 -.9 .2

CA 10.6 12.6 12.0 -2.0* -1.4* 3.9 4.5 4.3 -.6* -.4

CO 9.1 12.1 11.6 -3.0* -2.5* 3.6 5.1 5.0 -1.5 -1.4*

CT 12.4 13.1 11.0 -.7 1.4 4.2 6.3 4.1 -2.1* .1

DC 10.6 13.2 12.4 -2.6* -1.8* 4.5 4.8 4.2 -.3 .3

DE 10.5 11.9 9.4 -1.4 1.1 4.5 3.2 3.7 1.3 .8

FL 11.7 12.7 12.2 -1.0 -.5 4.2 5.4 4.9 -1.2* -.7

GA 11.3 14.9 14.2 -3.6* -2.9* 3.8 5.6 5.4 -1.8* -1.6*

HI 8.0 9.7 9.1 -1.7 -1.1 3.2 3.0 3.0 .2 .2

IA 9.2 10.6 11.6 -1.4 -2.4* 3.9 4.5 4.8 -.6 -.9

ID 9.8 13.8 11.4 -4.0* -1.6 3.3 5.1 3.9 -1.8* -.6

IL 10.7 11.1 11.1 -.4 -.4 4.4 4.3 4.1 .1 .3

IN 13.5 14.8 11.2 -1.3 2.3* 4.8 6.1 4.3 -1.3 .5

KS 13.8 14.6 13.8 -.8 .0 6.2 5.5 4.8 .7 1.4

KY 14.7 17.6 12.6 -2.9 2.1 5.7 7.3 4.4 -1.6 1.3

LA 15.8 18.4 11.0 -2.6* 4.8* 6.8 7.7 3.7 -.9 3.1*

MA 9.3 9.7 8.3 -.4 1.0 3.2 4.5 3.8 -1.3* -.6

MD 11.1 10.7 9.6 .4 1.5 5.2 3.8 3.4 1.4 1.8*

ME 13.6 15.8 13.7 -2.2 -.1 5.9 7.4 6.4 -1.5 -.5

MI 12.9 14.9 12.0 -2.0 .9 5.3 6.4 4.4 -1.1 .9

MN 8.6 9.9 10.3 -1.3 -1.7 3.3 3.8 4.1 -.5 -.8

MO 12.0 15.2 14.0 -3.2* -2.0 4.4 6.7 5.8 -2.3* -1.4

MS 15.9 20.8 17.4 -4.9* -1.5 6.3 7.9 7.4 -1.6 -1.1

MT 10.3 12.2 10.9 -1.9 -.6 3.9 5.6 4.4 -1.7* -.5

NC 13.9 15.9 13.7 -2.0* .2 5.5 6.2 4.4 -.7 1.1

ND 8.8 8.5 6.9 .3 1.9* 3.6 2.9 2.6 .7 1.0

NE 11.4 14.8 10.4 -3.4* 1.0 4.7 5.6 4.0 -.9 .7

NH 7.8 10.1 8.5 -2.3* -.7 2.8 4.3 3.1 -1.5* -.3

NJ 8.5 11.1 10.3 -2.6* -1.8* 3.1 4.7 3.4 -1.6* -.3

NM 16.8 14.4 14.1 2.4 2.7* 5.8 5.7 4.6 .1 1.2

NV 12.9 14.2 12.4 -1.3 .5 5.4 5.6 4.6 -.2 .8

NY 10.5 14.1 11.3 -3.6* -.8 3.8 4.9 4.3 -1.1* -.5

OH 13.2 16.1 13.3 -2.9* -.1 5.8 6.6 5.2 -.8 .6

OK 15.6 15.5 14.0 .1 1.6 6.1 6.4 5.9 -.3 .2

OR 11.1 16.1 13.1 -5.0* -2.0 4.8 6.6 6.6 -1.8* -1.8*

PA 11.1 12.4 11.2 -1.3 -.1 4.2 4.8 4.2 -.6 .0

RI 11.0 11.8 11.7 -.8 -.7 4.7 5.0 4.2 -.3 .5

SC 11.0 13.2 13.1 -2.2 -2.1 4.0 4.6 5.2 -.6 -1.2

SD 10.9 11.5 10.3 -.6 .6 4.8 4.5 4.1 .3 .7

TN 12.4 15.1 13.5 -2.7* -1.1 5.2 6.0 4.6 -.8 .6

TX 14.0 15.4 16.3 -1.4* -2.3* 5.4 6.0 5.7 -.6 -.3

UT 9.8 11.9 11.2 -2.1 -1.4 3.2 4.5 4.5 -1.3 -1.3

VA 10.1 9.8 8.6 .3 1.5 4.8 4.3 3.3 .5 1.5*

VT 9.6 11.4 12.1 -1.8 -2.5* 3.3 5.1 5.7 -1.8* -2.4*

WA 10.3 12.9 11.1 -2.6* -.8 4.0 4.8 4.3 -.8 -.3

WI 8.9 11.3 10.1 -2.4* -1.2 3.4 4.7 3.7 -1.3 -.3

WV 15.7 15.0 12.0 .7 3.7* 5.9 6.2 4.5 -.3 1.4

WY 12.6 13.2 9.2 -.6 3.4* 5.0 5.3 2.9 -.3 2.1*

 *Change was statistically significant with 90-percent confidence (t > 1.645). 

1Percentages exclude households for which food security status is unknown because household respondents did not give a valid 

response to any of the questions in the food security scale.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population 

Survey Food Security Supplements. 
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Household Spending on Food

Food insecurity is a condition that arises from lack of money and other resources to acquire food. 

In most households, the majority of food consumed by household members is purchased, either 

from supermarkets or grocery stores, to be prepared and eaten at home; some food also comes 

from cafeterias, restaurants, or vending machines to be eaten outside the home. The amount of 

money a household spends on food thus indicates how adequately the household is meeting its food 

needs.25When a household reduces food spending below some minimum level, such as USDA’s 

Thrifty Food Plan, because of constrained resources, disrupted eating patterns and reduced food 

intake may result. This section provides information on how much households spent on food, as 

reported in the December 2018 Food Security Supplement.

Methods

The household food expenditure statistics in this report are based on usual weekly spending for 

food, as reported by respondents after reflecting on the household’s actual food spending during the 

previous week. Respondents were first asked to report the amounts of money their households had 

spent on food in the week prior to the interview, including any purchases made with SNAP benefits 

(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps) at:

• supermarkets and grocery stores; 

• stores other than supermarkets and grocery stores, such as meat markets, produce stands, 

bakeries, warehouse clubs, and convenience stores;

• restaurants, fast-food places, cafeterias, and vending machines; and

• “...any other kind of place.”26

Total spending for food, based on responses to this series of questions, was verified with the respondent, and the respondent was then asked how much the household usually spent on food during a 

week.27 ERS analyses have shown that usual food expenditures estimated from data collected by 

this method were consistent with estimates from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES)—the 

25Food spending is only an indirect indicator of food consumption. It understates food consumption in households that receive food from in-kind programs, such as the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, WIC, meal programs 

for children in childcare and for the elderly, and private charitable organizations. Purchases with SNAP benefits, however, are 

counted as food spending in the CPS Food Security Supplement. Food spending also understates food consumption in households that acquire a substantial part of their food supply through gardening, hunting, or fishing, as well as in households that 

obtain groceries from friends or relatives or eat more meals at friends’ or relatives’ homes than they provide to friends or relatives. Food spending also understates food consumption in geographical areas with relatively low food prices and overstates 

consumption in areas with relatively high food prices.

26For spending in the first two categories of stores, respondents were also asked how much of the amount was for “nonfood items, such as pet food, paper products, alcohol, detergents, or cleaning supplies.” These amounts are subtracted from 

total spending at each of these stores to arrive at spending for food.

27Beginning with the 2015 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement, food-spending amounts are categorized 

in public-use data. Categorizing the dollar amounts reduces the risk of disclosure and is now standard for data collected by 

the U.S. Census Bureau. ERS analysis suggests this change has little effect on the estimates of median food spending reported 

in the annual food security reports. The tables presented in this section are based on the categorical food-spending data and 

are comparable to the 2016 estimates but are not precisely comparable with estimates published in prior annual food security 

reports. Changes in food spending from 2017 described in the text are based on comparable estimates of 2017 categorical 

food-spending data published in Coleman-Jensen et al. (2018). 
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principal source of data on U.S. household expenditures for goods and services (Oliveira and Rose, 

1996; Nord, 2009b).

Usual food spending was adjusted for household size and composition in two ways. First, we divided 

each household’s usual weekly food expenditure by the number of household members, yielding 

the “usual weekly food spending per person” for that household. The second adjustment accounts 

more precisely for the different food needs of households by comparing each household’s usual food 

spending to the estimated cost of the Thrifty Food Plan for that household in December 2018.28

USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) serves as a national standard for a nutritious, minimal-cost diet. 

It represents a set of “market baskets” of food that people in specific age and gender categories 

could consume at home to maintain a healthful diet that meets current dietary standards, taking into 

account the food consumption patterns of U.S. households (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Center 

for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, 2007).29 Each household’s reported usual weekly food spending 

was divided by the household-specific cost of the TFP, based on the age- and gender-specific cost of 

the TFP for each household member and the number of persons in the household (U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, 2019).30

The medians of each of the two food-spending measures (spending per person per week and total 

spending relative to the cost of the TFP) were estimated at the national level and for households 

in various categories. Medians are reported rather than averages (means) because medians are not 

unduly affected by the few unexpectedly high values of usual food spending that are believed to be 

reporting or data entry errors. Thus, the median better reflects what a typical household spent.

About 7.3 percent of households interviewed in the CPS Food Security Supplement did not respond 

to the food-spending questions (or reported zero usual food spending) and were excluded from the 

analysis. As a result, the total number of households represented in tables 6 and 7 is smaller than in 

tables 1 and 2, and food-spending estimates may not be fully representative of all households in the 

United States.31

Food Expenditures by Selected Household Characteristics

In 2018, the typical U.S. household spent $50.00 per person each week for food (table 6). Median 

household food spending relative to the cost of the TFP—which adjusts for food price inflation and 

adjusts more precisely for the food needs of persons in different age-gender categories—was 1.27, 

up from 1.24 in 2017 (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2018). That is, in 2018, the typical household spent 27 

percent more on food than the cost of the TFP for that household. 

28The cost of the TFP is revised each month to account for inflation in food prices. For this report, TFP costs are estimated 

by ERS separately for Alaska and Hawaii, using adjustment factors calculated from USDA’s TFP costs for those States for 

the second half of 2018. USDA’s TFP costs for Alaska and Hawaii are available on USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and 

Promotion website.

29The TFP, in addition to its use as a research tool, is used as a basis for setting the maximum SNAP benefit amounts 

(U.S. Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, 2007).

30The cost of a TFP for a household is calculated under the assumption that all food purchased by household members 

is shared. 

31Households that were unable or unwilling to report food spending were less likely to be food insecure than those that 

did report food spending (8.2 percent compared with 12.1 percent). Food spending may, therefore, be slightly underestimated 

from these data.
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Table 6

Weekly household food spending per person and relative to the household cost of the 

Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), 2018

Category

Number of 

households1

Median weekly food spending

Per person

Relative to cost 

of TFP

1,000 Dollars Ratio

All households 118,469 50.00 1.27

Household composition:

With children < 18 yrs 35,304 40.00 1.15

At least one child < 6 yrs 15,493 37.50 1.15

Married-couple families 23,189 41.67 1.17

Female head, no spouse 8,695 40.00 1.09

Male head, no spouse 3,002 41.67 1.12

Other household with child2 417 40.00 1.08

With no children < 18 yrs 83,166 60.00 1.33

More than one adult 49,822 50.00 1.24

Women living alone 17,980 60.00 1.35

Men living alone 15,363 80.00 1.56

With elderly 34,829 50.00 1.19

Elderly living alone 12,922 60.00 1.33

Race/ethnicity of households:

White, non-Hispanic 78,445 55.00 1.33

Black, non-Hispanic 14,923 50.00 1.11

Hispanic3 16,501 46.67 1.13

Other, non-Hispanic 8,601 50.00 1.23

Household income-to-poverty ratio:

Under 1.00 11,287 40.00 1.06

Under 1.30 15,921 40.00 1.04

Under 1.85 25,223 40.00 1.07

1.85 and over 67,428 60.00 1.42

Income unknown 25,818 50.00 1.19

Area of residence:4

Inside metropolitan area 101,576 50.00 1.30

In principal cities5 34,321 55.00 1.32

Not in principal cities 51,257 50.00 1.31

Outside metropolitan area 16,894 50.00 1.13

Census geographic region:

Northeast 20,274 55.00 1.33

Midwest 25,644 50.00 1.19

South 45,667 50.00 1.23

West 26,884 53.33 1.33

1Totals exclude households that did not answer the questions about spending on food or reported zero usual food spending. 

These exclusions represented 8.6 percent of all households.

2Households with children in complex living arrangements, e.g., children of other relatives or unrelated roommate or boarder.

3Hispanics may be of any race. 

4Metropolitan area residence is based on 2013 Office of Management and Budget delineation. 

5Households within incorporated areas of the largest cities in each metropolitan area. Residence inside or outside of principal 

cities is not identified for about 15 percent of households in metropolitan statistical areas.

Note: These estimates are based on categorical food spending data rather than on continuous data that were used in 2014 

and earlier years. Beginning with the 2015 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement, food spending amounts 

are categorized in public-use data. ERS analysis suggests that this change has little effect on the estimates of median food 

spending reported here. 

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement. 
28

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Table 7

Weekly household food spending per person and relative to the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan 

(TFP) by food security status, 2018

Category

Number of 

households1

Median weekly food spending

Per person

Relative to cost 

of TFP

1,000 Dollars Ratio

All households 118,469 50.00 1.27

Food security status:

Food-secure households 104,787 50.00 1.31

Food-insecure households 13,467 43.33 1.08

Households with low food security 8,225 41.67 1.09

Households with very low food security 5,242 46.67 1.08

1Total for all households excludes households that did not answer the questions about spending on food or reported zero 

usual spending for food. These represented 8.6 percent of all households. Totals in the bottom section also exclude households that did not answer any of the questions in the food security scale.

Note: These estimates are based on categorical food spending data rather than on continuous data that were used in 2014 

and earlier years. Beginning with the 2015 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement, food spending amounts 

are categorized in public-use data. ERS analysis suggests that this change has little effect on the estimates of median food 

spending reported here.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 

2018 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.

Households with children under age 18 generally spent less for food, relative to the household cost 

of the TFP, than those without children. The typical household with children spent 15 percent more 

than the cost of the TFP on food, while the typical household with no children spent 33 percent 

more. Median household food expenditures relative to the cost of the TFP were lower for households 

with children headed by single women (1.09) than for married couples with children (1.17). Median 

food expenditures relative to the cost of the TFP were highest for men living alone (1.56).

Median food expenditures relative to the cost of the TFP were lower (than the national average) for 

Black non-Hispanic (1.11) and Hispanic households (1.13) than for White non-Hispanic households 

(1.33). This pattern is consistent with the lower average incomes and higher prevalence rates of food 

insecurity for these racial and ethnic minorities.

As expected, households with higher incomes spent more money on food than did lower income 

households.32 The typical household with income below the poverty line spent about 6 percent more 

than the cost of the TFP, while the typical household with income at or above 185 percent of the 

poverty line spent 42 percent more than the cost of the TFP. 

Median food spending relative to the cost of the TFP was lower for households in nonmetropolitan 

areas (1.13) than for those inside metropolitan statistical areas (1.30). Regionally, median spending 

on food relative to the cost of the TFP was lowest in the Midwest (1.19), followed by the South 

(1.23), and highest in the West (1.33) and Northeast (1.33).

32However, food spending does not rise proportionately with income, so high-income households actually spend a smaller 

proportion of their income on food than low-income households.
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Food Expenditures and Household Food Security

Food-secure households typically spent more on food than did food-insecure households. Median 

food spending relative to the cost of the TFP was 1.31 among food-secure households in 2018, 

compared with 1.08 among food-insecure households (table 7). Thus, taking into account estimated 

food need, the median food-secure household spent 21 percent more for food than the median foodinsecure household (estimated as 1.31/1.08=1.21).33

33The pattern of higher food spending among food-secure households compared with food-insecure households was also 

found in USDA’s National Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) data (Tiehen et al., 2017).
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Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs and 

Food Security

Households with limited resources use a variety of methods to help meet their food needs. Some 

participate in Federal food and nutrition assistance programs or obtain food from emergency providers 

in their communities to supplement the food they purchase. Households that turn to Federal and 

community food and nutrition assistance programs typically do so because they are having difficulty 

meeting their food needs. The use of such programs by low-income households provides insight into 

the extent of these households’ difficulties in obtaining enough food. The relationship between food 

security status and use of food and nutrition assistance programs also provides insight into the ways 

low-income households cope with difficulties in acquiring adequate food.

This section presents information about the food security status of households that participated 

in the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs: SNAP, the National School 

Lunch Program, and WIC (see box, “Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs,” p. 31). It 

also provides information about the extent to which food-insecure households participated in these 

programs. Total participation in the Federal food and nutrition assistance programs, participation 

rates of eligible households in those programs, and characteristics of participants in the programs are 

not described in this report. Extensive information on those topics is available from USDA’s Food 

and Nutrition Service (FNS).34

Statistical Supplement tables S-11 to S-16 provide information on food spending by participants 

and low-income nonparticipants in selected Federal and community food and nutrition assistance 

programs and about the extent to which households obtained assistance from community food 

pantries and emergency kitchens (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2019).

Statistical Supplement tables S-11 to S-16 provide information on food spending by participants 

and low-income nonparticipants in selected Federal and community food and nutrition assistance 

programs and about the extent to which households obtained assistance from community food 

pantries and emergency kitchens (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2019).

Methods

The December 2018 CPS Food Security Supplement included questions about the use of Federal food 

and nutrition assistance programs. All households with reported annual incomes below 185 percent of 

the Federal poverty threshold were asked these questions. To minimize respondent burden, households 

with annual incomes above that range were not asked the questions unless they indicated some level of 

difficulty in meeting their food needs on the first of the two preliminary screener questions asked of 

all households (listed in footnote 7, p. 3). Therefore, these analyses were restricted to households with 

annual incomes below 185 percent of the poverty line because most households with incomes above 

this range were not asked whether they participated in these programs.

34Additional research findings on the operation and effectiveness of these programs are available from the ERS website.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers 15 

domestic food and nutrition assistance programs. The three largest programs are:

• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program. 

The program provides monthly benefits to eligible low-income households to purchase food 

items at SNAP-authorized retailers. SNAP is available to all individuals who meet financial 

and nonfinancial eligibility criteria. In an average month of fiscal year 2018 (October 1, 2017, 

through September 30, 2018), SNAP provided benefits to 40.4 million people in the United 

States (about 12 percent of individuals). The average benefit was about $126 per person per 

month, and Federal expenditures for the program were $65 billion that year. 

• The National School Lunch Program. The program operates in over 100,000 public and 

nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions. All meals served under the 

program receive Federal subsidies, and free or reduced-price lunches are available to lowincome students. In fiscal year 2018, the program provided lunches to an average of 29.7 

million children each school day. About two-thirds (68 percent) of the lunches served in 

2018 were free, and an additional 6 percent were provided at reduced prices. 

• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The 

program is a federally funded preventive nutrition program that provides grants to States to 

support distribution of supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for 

low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and nonbreastfeeding postpartum women; for infants in 

low-income families; and for children younger than age 5 in low-income families and who 

are found to be at nutritional risk. Most State WIC agencies provide vouchers that participants use to acquire supplemental food packages at authorized food stores. In fiscal year 

2018, WIC served 6.9 million participants per month at an average monthly cost for food 

(after rebates to WIC from manufacturers) of about $41 per person. 

(FNS Program data accessed from FNS website on May 8, 2019; for more information, see 

Oliveira, 2019.)

Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs

Three questions are used to determine whether respondents participated in SNAP in the 30 days 

before the survey interview. The questions analyzed in this section regarding SNAP participation 

are:

• During the past 12 months, since December of last year, did anyone in this household get 

SNAP or food stamp benefits?35

Households that responded affirmatively were then asked:

• In which months of 2018 were SNAP or food stamp benefits received?

35The Food Stamp Program was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in October 2008. 

Both names were mentioned in the survey question, as well as the State’s name for the program in States that used a 

different name.
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Households that reported participation in November, but not December, were then asked: 

• On what date in November did your household receive SNAP or food stamp benefits?

Information from the three questions was used to identify households that received SNAP benefits in 

the 30 days prior to the survey, which is from mid-November to mid-December 2018.36

Questions about the National School Lunch Program and WIC are also analyzed here. These 

questions are: 

• During the past 30 days, did any children in the household (between 5 and 18 years old) 

receive free or reduced-price lunches at school? (Only households with children between the 

ages of 5 and 18 were asked this question.)

• During the past 30 days, did any women or children in this household get food through the 

WIC program? (Only households with a child under age 5 or a woman age 15-45 were asked 

this question.)

Prevalence rates of food security, food insecurity, and very low food security were calculated 

for households reporting use of each food and nutrition assistance program and for comparison 

groups of nonparticipating households with incomes and household compositions similar to those 

of food assistance recipients. Statistics for participating households excluded households with 

annual incomes above the ranges specified for the comparison groups.37 The proportions of foodinsecure households participating in each of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance 

programs—SNAP, the National School Lunch Program, and WIC—were calculated, as well as the 

proportion that participated in any of the three programs. 

Food Security of Households That Received Food and Nutrition 

Assistance

The relationship between food security and the use of food and nutrition assistance programs is 

complex. Households that report using food and nutrition assistance programs in a one-time survey 

can either be more food secure or less food secure than low-income households not using those 

programs. Since the programs provide food and other resources to reduce the severity of food 

insecurity, households are expected to be more food secure after receiving program benefits than 

they were before. On the other hand, it is the more food-insecure households—those having greater 

difficulty meeting their food needs—that seek assistance from the programs. Data confirm this selfselection into nutrition assistance programs.38 In 2018, an estimated 47.5 percent of households that 

36The CPS household does not always match the SNAP unit. In some households, only some members are eligible for 

SNAP (Czajka et al., 2012; Scherpf et al., 2015).

37Some program participants reported annual incomes that were higher than 12 times the program eligibility criteria, 

which are based on monthly income (relative to poverty). They may have had monthly incomes below the monthly eligibility threshold during part of the year, or subfamilies within the household may have had incomes low enough to have 

been eligible.

38This “self-selection” effect is evident in the association between food security and food program participation observed 

in the food security survey. Participating households were less food secure than similar nonparticipating households. Research that uses methods to account for this self-targeting is required to assess the extent to which the programs improve food 

security (see Gregory et al., 2015, for a review of this literature and these methods; also see Mabli et al., 2013; Nord, 2013; 

Nord, 2012; Nord and Prell, 2011; Ratcliffe and McKernan, 2011; Nord and Golla, 2009; Yen et al., 2008; Wilde and Nord, 

2005; Gundersen and Oliveira, 2001; Gundersen and Gruber, 2001; Nelson et al., 1998). Overall, these studies find that SNAP 

improves food security.
33

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received SNAP benefits were food insecure, as were 39.5 percent of households that received free or 

reduced-price school lunches and 36.9 percent of those that received WIC benefits (table 8).

The prevalence of very low food security among households participating in SNAP was more than 

double that of nonparticipating households in the same low-income range (21.7 percent versus 9.4 

percent). For households that received free or reduced-price school lunches, the prevalence of very 

low food security was nearly triple that of nonparticipating households with school-age children in the 

same income range (13.0 percent versus 4.5 percent). Very low food security was also more prevalent 

among WIC recipient households (12.3 percent) than similar non-WIC households (6.6 percent).

A possible complicating factor in interpreting table 8 is that food insecurity was measured over a 

12-month period, while program participation is measured over a 30-day period. An episode of food 

insecurity may have occurred at a different time during the year than the use of a specific food and 

nutrition assistance program. A similar tabulation using a 30-day measure of food insecurity largely 

overcomes this potential problem because measured food insecurity and reported use of food and 

nutrition assistance programs both are referenced to the previous 30 days. That tabulation shows 

patterns of food insecurity and the use of food and nutrition assistance programs that are similar to 

those using the 12-month food insecurity measure in table 8, although 30-day food insecurity prevalence rates were lower than the corresponding 12-month rates (see Statistical Supplement table S-15, 

Coleman-Jensen et al., 2019).

Participation in Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs 

by Food-Insecure Households

About 56 percent of food-insecure households reported receiving assistance from one or more of the 

three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs during the month prior to the December 

2018 food security survey (table 9). SNAP provided assistance to 41.2 percent of food-insecure 

households, children in 28.2 percent of food-insecure households received free or reduced-price 

school lunches, and women or children in 8.1 percent of food-insecure households received WIC 

food vouchers.39 An estimated 56.5 percent of households classified as having very low food security reported participating in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance 

programs, with the largest share (45.7 percent) participating in SNAP.40

39These statistics may be biased downward. It is known from comparisons between household survey data and administrative records that food program participation is underreported by household survey respondents, including those in the CPS 

(Meyer and George, 2011; Parker, 2011; Meyer et al., 2009; Meyer et al., 2015; Meyer and Mittag, 2019). This is probably 

true for food-insecure households as well, although the extent of underreporting by these households is not known. Statistics are based on the subsample of households with annual incomes below 185 percent of the poverty line. Not all of these 

households were eligible for certain programs. (For example, many households without pregnant women or children and with 

incomes above 130 percent of poverty would not have been eligible for any of the programs.)

40The statistics in table 9 were also calculated for households that were food insecure during the 30-day period prior to the 

survey. In principle, that analysis is preferable because food security status and use of programs are more certainly contemporaneous than when food insecurity is assessed over a 12-month period. However, the results differed only slightly from those 

in table 9 and are not presented in a separate table. In 2018, an estimated 58.5 percent of households that were food insecure 

during the 30-day period prior to the survey participated in SNAP, free or reduced-price school lunch, or WIC during that 

same period. Among households that experienced very low food security in the 30-day period prior to the survey, 59.7 percent 

participated in SNAP, free or reduced-price school lunch, or WIC during that same period.
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Table 8

Percentage of households by food security status and participation in selected Federal food and nutrition 

assistance programs, 2018

Category

Food

secure

Food insecure

All

With low food 

security

With very low

food security

Percent

Income less than 130 percent of poverty line:

Received SNAP1 benefits previous 12 months 52.5 47.5 25.8 21.7

Received SNAP benefits all 12 months 54.2 45.8 24.6 21.2

Received SNAP benefits 1 to 11 months 48.4 51.6 28.6 23.0

Did not receive SNAP benefits previous 12 months 76.7 23.3 13.9 9.4

Income less than 185 percent of poverty line; school-age children in household:

Received free or reduced-price school lunch previous 30 days 60.5 39.5 26.5 13.0

Did not receive free or reduced-price school lunch previous 30 days 80.4 19.6 15.1 4.5

Income less than 185 percent of poverty line; children under age 5 in household:

Received WIC2 previous 30 days 63.1 36.9 24.5 12.3

Did not receive WIC previous 30 days 74.9 25.1 18.5 6.6

1SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program.

2WIC = Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 Current 

Population Survey Food Security Supplement.

Table 9

Participation of food-insecure households in selected Federal food and nutrition assistance programs, 2018

Program

Share of food-insecure households 

that participated in the program

during the previous 30 days1,2

Share of households with very low food

security that participated in the program 

during the previous 30 days1,2

Percent

SNAP3 41.2 45.7

Free or reduced-price school lunch 28.2 22.5

WIC4 8.1 6.4

Any of the three programs 56.0 56.5

None of the three programs 44.0 43.5

1Analysis is restricted to households with annual incomes less than 185 percent of the poverty line because most households with incomes above 

that range were not asked whether they participated in food assistance programs.

2These statistics understate the extent of food and nutrition program participation because program participation is underreported by household 

survey respondents, see footnote 39.

3SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program.

4WIC = Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 Current Population 

Survey Food Security Supplement.
35

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