Since 2011, Feeding America has produced Map the Meal Gap and provided estimates of local food insecurity and food costs to improve our understanding of people and places facing hunger and inform decisions that will help ensure equitable access to nutritious food for all. Our interactive map features annual food insecurity estimates for all individuals and children, as well as older adults and seniors, at the state level and below.
To achieve our vision of an America where no one is hungry, we believe it is imperative to address disparities in food insecurity by race as well as place. To that end, the map now includes estimated food insecurity by race and ethnicity for select populations and places. Recognizing that sample sizes are smaller, and uncertainty is greater the more we disaggregate data, we believe that understanding even broad historical variations within and across local communities is critical. Only then can we develop effective strategies to address the root causes of food insecurity and change the systems, policies and practices that put people at risk of hunger.
To learn more, you can read our report, review our methodology and even download our data.
Click or touch on the map, or use the search bar to start exploring
Search
+ More Options
44,151,000
Estimated Program Eligibility Among Food Insecure People in The United States
$3.99
$33,119,578,000
Map the Meal Gap is made possible by funding from the Conagra Brands Foundation and by in-kind support in the form of local food price data from NielsenIQ. Senior hunger estimates are made possible by funding from the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation. We are grateful for the continued partnership with Futureman Digital to design and continue developing the interactive map. We are also grateful for contributions from members of Feeding America’s Technical Advisory Group, Feeding America National Office staff and by We All Count.
Food insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as the lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecurity is associated with numerous adverse social and health outcomes and is increasingly considered a critical public health issue. Key drivers of food insecurity include unemployment, poverty, and income shocks, which can prevent adequate access to food. Alternatively, multiple interventions have been shown to reduce food insecurity, including participation in food assistance programs and broader societal-level improvements in economic stability.
Within the past couple of years, more attention has been given to the role of systems and policies that keep certain households and communities food insecure, including discriminatory policies and systems that result in racial and gender inequities in pay/earnings and wealth. For example, Black and Latino families have considerably less wealth than white families. According to the Federal Reserve Board, Black families' median wealth is less than 15 percent that of white families ($44,900 vs. $285,000) and the median wealth of Latino families is about 20 percent that of white families ($61,000 vs. $285,000). In 2022 the Federal Reserve Board was able to break out for the first time Asian family median wealth, $536,000, or nearly double that of white families. According to the report, remaining families including those identifying as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, other race, and all respondents reporting more than one racial identification had median wealth similar to the typical Black or Hispanic family. Similarly, the National Women's Law Center report that, among full-time, year-round workers, Native American women are typically paid only 59 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. That gap widens further when part-time and part-year workers are included in the comparison, with Native women earning only 55 cents for every dollar white, non-Hispanic men in 2022. These persistent racial gaps that are rooted in a history of structural and systemic racism contribute to the food insecurity disparities we see today.
Map the Meal Gap shows food insecurity exists in every county and congressional district in the U.S., though the prevalence of food insecurity varies significantly across populations and places. The estimates from the study are at the individual level - reflecting the number of individuals (or children) who live in a food-insecure household. Select your state, county or district from our interactive map above and start learning more about food insecurity in your community and the food banks that serve them. Access local food insecurity data, learn about our methodology, or read about notable findings from this year's study.