How We Got the Map Data

This page offers an overview of the Map the Meal Gap methodology and links to technical briefs that provide greater detail about the methods and data

Published May 14, 2024

2024 Technical Appendix (2022 data)

Map the Meal Gap generates the following estimates:

Local food insecurity among all individuals and children, and by select races/ethnicities
Local federal program eligibility among all individuals and children experiencing food insecurity
Additional dollars needed among people estimated to be food insecure (a.k.a., food budget shortfall)
Food spending by people who are food secure (a.k.a., average meal cost)

This page offers an overview of the Map the Meal Gap methodology and links to technical briefs that provide greater detail about the methods and data. Read the most recent technical brief for the latest Map the Meal Gap study released in 2024 and reflecting 2022 data and an overview of the available data part of the study.

Study Methodology

Food insecurity rates and numbers

The relationship between food insecurity and its closely linked indicators (poverty, unemployment, homeownership, disability prevalence, etc.) are first analyzed at the state level. Then, the coefficient estimates from this analysis are used with the same variables for every county and congressional district. Together, these variables can generate estimated food insecurity rates for individuals and children at the local level.

Food budget shortfall

Responses from food insecure households to the Current Population Survey questions about a food budget shortfall are calculated at the individual level and then averaged to create a weekly food budget shortfall. This national average weekly shortfall can be annualized by multiplying the estimate by 52 (weeks per year) and again by 7/12 (the average number of months in a year that food-insecure households experience food insecurity per the U.S. Department of Agriculture).

Cost-of-food index

NielsenIQ assigns every sale of UPC-coded food items in a county to one of the food categories in the USDA Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) and then weights those categories based on actual pounds purchased per week. We then apply county and sales tax rates to the NielsenIQ market basket prices to create a relative price index that, when applied to the national average meal cost and national food budget shortfall, reveals differences in the cost of food at the local level.

National average meal cost

The average dollar amount spent on food per week by food-secure individuals is divided by 21 (assuming 3 meals per day and 7 days per week). Reported food expenditures by food-secure individuals are used to ensure that the result best reflects the cost of an adequate diet. We then adjust the national average cost per meal by a relative food cost index to derive a local estimate.