Demographics

County-Level Food Insecurity Rate

13.5% — up from 12.8% a year ago, the worst reading since 2014

Data paused — Feeding America Map the Meal Gap publishes annually with ~18-month lag. 2024 data not yet available as of March 2026.

What is the current County-Level Food Insecurity Rate?

COUNTY-LEVEL FOOD INSECURITY RATE
13.5% ↑ Worsening
13.5% of US households food insecure in 2023 —
One year ago
12.8% ↑ Worsening
up 0.7 points since 2022

County-Level Food Insecurity Rate: 13.5% as of 2023, and worsening. Source: Feeding America Map the Meal Gap.

13.5% of US households food insecure in 2023 — highest since 2014

Pandemic relief held rate flat in 2020-2021. Jumped 25% after SNAP expansions expired.

Source: Feeding America Map the Meal Gap · Latest: 2023

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How has County-Level Food Insecurity Rate changed over time?

CSV Chart Card
County-Level Food Insecurity Rate over time
County-Level Food Insecurity Rate, percent
County-Level Food Insecurity Rate
Historical data
Annual · Feeding America Map the Meal Gap
Period Value YoY Change
2023 13.5% +0.7 pts
2022 12.8% +2.6 pts
2021 10.2% −0.3 pts
2020 10.5% +0.0 pts
2019 10.5% −0.6 pts
2018 11.1%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is County-Level Food Insecurity Rate?

13.5% — up from 12.8% a year ago, the worst reading since 2014

Why does County-Level Food Insecurity Rate matter for financial distress?

County-Level Food Insecurity Rate is one of the indicators tracked by the American Distress Index (ADI), which measures five dimensions of U.S. household financial distress: Buffer Depletion, Debt Stress, Financial Conditions, Cost Pressure, and Labor Market disruption. Changes in this indicator contribute to the overall distress picture.

Where does the County-Level Food Insecurity Rate data come from?

This data comes from Feeding America Map the Meal Gap. More information: https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/map-the-meal-gap. The American Distress Index updates this indicator annual.

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Why does County-Level Food Insecurity Rate matter?

County-Level Food Insecurity Rate is one of 91 indicators in the American Distress Index's demographics layer — the signal that predicted the 2008 crisis two years before delinquency data confirmed it.
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