The Price of Going without: Food Insecurity in the US
Hunger is not always obvious. Often, it is a parent eating less so the kids have enough, a senior skipping a prescription because groceries came first, or a family running out of food four days before the next paycheck. That experience has a name: food insecurity. In 2024, nearly one in seven American households lived it, meaning more than 18 million families could not consistently access enough food to meet their basic needs. The number has been climbing since 2021, and the policy environment surrounding federal food assistance is more uncertain than it has been in decades.
Explore the data about hunger in America
Food insecurity affects every part of the United States, though not equally. The dashboard below maps county-level data so you can see what hunger looks like where you live, where you work, or where you are simply curious about. Start by searching for a county to get a closer look. You can also drill down into specific populations, including kids living at or near the poverty level. This data is sourced directly from Feeding America, the US’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, which operates a nationwide network of over 200 food banks and 60,000 partner agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. It feeds more than 46 million people annually, accounting for 5.9 billion meals, and advocates for policies to end hunger.
Food insecurity, defined as not having reliable access to enough food due to limited money or resources, fell to a two-decade low in 2021. That drop was direct and traceable: expanded food assistance benefits, free school meals, and a boosted Child Tax Credit put food on tables that had gone without.
Then those programs expired.
Benefits contracted, food prices climbed nearly 24 percent above pre-pandemic levels, and food insecurity rose sharply in response, reaching 13.7 percent of households by 2024. An estimated 47 million Americans, including nearly 14 million children, were living in food-insecure households by 2023, the highest number since 2014.
This is not only a US problem. Canada reached record levels in 2024, with roughly one in four people in food-insecure households. When researchers apply the same measurement standard to both countries, the rates land nearly identically. Mexico has made meaningful progress, cutting its rate nearly in half between 2018 and 2024 through social transfer programs and wage growth, though deep gaps remain for Indigenous communities and rural populations. Across all three countries, food insecurity has proven resistant to easy fixes, regardless of income level, policy approach, or safety-net structure.
Who Is Hit Hardest
Food insecurity is not evenly distributed. Single-mother households account for nearly 35 percent. Black and Latino households face rates more than double that of white non-Hispanic households. More than one in five children lived in a food-insecure household in 2023. These are not random patterns. They reflect wage inequality, limited access to wealth, and occupational segregation that have compounded across generations.
Geography matters too. Food insecurity rates in cities and rural areas are nearly identical, around 16 percent, while suburbs sit closer to 12 percent. But the underlying challenges are different. Urban residents often have more access to food banks and public transit to reach a grocery store, even when the cost of food remains out of reach. Rural communities face higher poverty rates, fewer jobs, fewer transportation options, and grocery stores that can be ten miles or more away. Feeding America found that 86 percent of the counties with the highest food insecurity rates in the country are rural.
The Role of SNAP
SNAP, the federal nutrition assistance program formerly known as food stamps, is the most direct line of defense against hunger for low-income households, serving more than 40 million Americans in a typical month. Research shows it reduces food insecurity by roughly 30 percent among participating households and lifted 3.4 million people out of poverty in 2023 alone.The program is now absorbing its deepest cuts in history. Federal legislation passed in July 2025 expanded work requirements, removed exemptions for veterans and former foster youth, and for the first time required states to share in the cost of benefits. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the changes would reduce participation by 2.4 million people per month over the next decade. By December 2025, enrollment had already fallen by 2.5 million people, and food prices remain well above where they were before the pandemic.
Why This Matters Beyond the Households Experiencing It
Hunger carries costs that spread through entire communities. Food-insecure individuals are significantly more likely to visit emergency rooms and require hospitalization. Food-insecure families spend an estimated $2,500 more annually on health care, and the total annual cost of hunger to the US health care system has been estimated at more than $130 billion. Children who are food insecure miss more school, struggle to concentrate, and face higher rates of developmental and behavioral health challenges. These are costs that businesses, schools, governments, and health systems absorb every day, whether or not they connect them back to hunger.
What You Can Do
Help your neighor. The most direct action is supporting your local food bank or food pantry through donations, food drives, or volunteering. If you know someone who may qualify for SNAP but has not applied, helping them navigate the process or connecting them to a benefits navigator is one of the most practical things you can offer. Many eligible people never apply because of stigma or confusion, not because they do not need it.
Talk to the people who shape policy. Civic engagement matters here more than in most areas. Food policy is made at every level of government, and letting your elected officials know you are paying attention to how they vote on nutrition assistance is one of the most durable things an individual can do. The way we talk about food insecurity in our communities matters too. Framing it as the structural and economic issue it is, rather than a personal failure, shifts the conversation in ways that make policy change more likely and help-seeking more acceptable.
What Organizations Can Do
Hospitals and health systems have an incredible ability to impact the issue, and they see the consequences of food insecurity daily in their emergency departments and chronic disease caseloads. Screening patients and connecting them to SNAP enrollment, food pantry referrals, or medically tailored meal programs is a high-impact, low-cost intervention. Community benefit investments in produce prescription programs and food bank partnerships are a natural fit for nonprofit hospital resources. Use your immense local and state political power to elevate the issue.
States can expand SNAP eligibility beyond federal minimums, invest in enrollment outreach, and simplify renewal processes so that eligible residents do not lose coverage due to a technicality. At the local level, zoning decisions, transit routes, and community development investments all shape residents' ability to reliably access food.
Employers can make a huge difference, as food insecurity among working adults shows up as absenteeism, reduced productivity, and turnover. Raising wages, offering emergency assistance funds, and helping employees access benefits they already qualify for but are not enrolled in are among the highest-return investments a company can make.For grantmakers and funders, the most durable investments go beyond food banks to include SNAP outreach and enrollment assistance, rural food access, and the data infrastructure that keeps food insecurity visible at a time when federal data collection on this issue is contracting.