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This page provides the following information:

Food Security Status of U.S. Households in 2021

Food secure—These households had access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.

  • 89.8 percent (118.5 million) of U.S. households were food secure throughout 2021.
  • Essentially unchanged, or not significantly different, from 89.5 percent in 2020.

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Food insecure—At times during the year, these households were uncertain of having or unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources for food. Food-insecure households include those with low food security and very low food security.

  • 10.2 percent (13.5 million) of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during 2021.
  • Essentially unchanged from 10.5 percent in 2020.

Low food security—These food-insecure households obtained enough food to avoid substantially disrupting their eating patterns or reducing food intake by using a variety of coping strategies, such as eating less varied diets, participating in Federal food assistance programs, or getting food from community food pantries.

  • 6.4 percent (8.4 million) of U.S. households had low food security in 2021.
  • Essentially unchanged from 6.6 percent in 2020.

Very low food security—In these food-insecure households, normal eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake was reduced at times during the year because they had insufficient money or other resources for food. 

  • 3.8 percent (5.1 million) of U.S. households had very low food security at some time during 2021.
  • This estimate is essentially unchanged from 3.9 percent in 2020.

Food Security Status of U.S. Households with Children in 2021

Among U.S. households with children under age 18:

  • 87.5 percent of households with children were food secure in 2021.
  • Household food insecurity affected 12.5 percent of households with children in 2021. In some of these food-insecure households only adults were food insecure, while in other households children also experienced food insecurity.
  • In 6.3 percent of households with children, only adults were food insecure.
  • Both children and adults were food insecure in 6.2 percent of households with children (2.3 million households).
  • Children are usually protected from substantial reductions in food intake even in households with very low food security. Nevertheless, in about 0.7 percent of households with children (274,000 households), one or more child also experienced reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns at some time during the year.

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For more information, see the ERS report: 

Food Insecurity in Households With Children: Prevalence, Severity, and Household Characteristics, 2010-11

How Many People Lived in Food-insecure Households?

In 2021:

  • 33.8 million people lived in food-insecure households.
  • 8.6 million adults lived in households with very low food security.
  • 5.0 million children lived in food-insecure households in which children, along with adults, were food insecure.
  • 521,000 children (0.7 percent of the Nation's children) lived in households in which one or more child experienced very low food security.

For more information, see Food Insecurity in the U.S.: Frequency of Food Insecurity.

Food Insecurity by Household Characteristics

The prevalence of food insecurity varied considerably among household types. Rates of food insecurity were higher than the national average (10.2 percent) for the following groups:

  • All households with children (12.5 percent).
  • Households with children under age 6 (12.9 percent).
  • Households with children headed by a single woman (24.3 percent) or a single man (16.2 percent).
  • Women living alone (13.2 percent) and men living alone (12.3 percent).
  • Households with Black, non-Hispanic (19.8 percent) and Hispanic reference persons (16.2 percent; a household reference person is an adult household member in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented).
  • Households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty threshold (26.5 percent; the Federal poverty line was $27,479 for a family of four in 2021).

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  • Overall, households with children had a substantially higher rate of food insecurity (12.5 percent) than those without children (9.4 percent). Among households with children, married couple families had the lowest rate of food insecurity (7.4 percent).
  • The prevalence of food insecurity was highest for households located in principal cities of metropolitan areas (12.2 percent), near the national average in nonmetropolitan areas (10.8 percent), and lowest in suburban and other metropolitan areas outside principal cities (8.8 percent).
  • Regionally, the prevalence of food insecurity in the Northeast (8.8 percent) was significantly below the U.S. average, while the prevalence in the South (11.4 percent) was significantly above the U.S. average.

For interactive data visualizations, see Interactive Charts and Highlights.

Very Low Food Security by Household Characteristics

The prevalence of very low food security in various types of households followed a pattern similar to that observed for food insecurity overall. Very low food security was more prevalent than the national average (3.8 percent) for the following groups:

  • Households with children headed by a single woman (8.0 percent).
  • Women living alone (6.0 percent) and men living alone (5.9 percent).
  • Households with reference persons who are Black, non-Hispanic (7.9 percent) and Hispanic (5.5 percent).
  • Households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty line (10.2 percent).
  • Households located in principal cities (4.6 percent).

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Trends in Prevalence Rates

The 2021 prevalence of food insecurity (10.2 percent) was not significantly different from the 2020 and 2019 prevalence of 10.5 percent. Regarding earlier trends, a statistically-significant decline in the prevalence of food insecurity from 11.1 percent in 2018 to 10.5 percent occurred in 2019. For the first time, in 2019, food insecurity was statistically significantly—at the 90 percent confidence level—below the 11.1 percent pre-recession level of 2007.

The prevalence of very low food security in 2021 (3.8 percent) was not significantly different from the prevalence in 2020 (3.9 percent) or 2019 (4.1 percent). The prevalence of very low food security in 2021 was significantly lower than the prevalence in 2018 (4.3 percent).

The year-to-year deviations from a consistent downward trend between 1995 and 2000 include a substantial 2-year cycle that is believed to result from seasonal effects on food security prevalence rates. The Current Population Survey (CPS) food security surveys over this period were conducted in April in odd-numbered years and August or September in even-numbered years. Measured prevalence of food insecurity was higher in the August/September collections, suggesting a seasonal-response effect. In 2001 and later years, the surveys were conducted in early December, which avoided seasonal effects in interpreting annual changes.

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State-level Prevalence of Food Insecurity

Prevalence rates of food insecurity varied considerably from State to State. Data for 3 years, 2019–2021, were combined to provide more reliable statistics at the State level. Estimated prevalence rates of food insecurity during this 3-year period ranged from 5.4 percent in New Hampshire to 15.3 percent in Mississippi; estimated prevalence rates of very low food security ranged from 1.8 percent in North Dakota to 6.3 percent in Arkansas.

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This section is based on the publication:

Household Food Security in the United States in 2021