Household Food Insecurity Rate
Share of U.S. households classified as food insecure by USDA definition
What was the last verified Household Food Insecurity Rate reading?
U.S. Department of Agriculture's last reading put the household food insecurity rate at 13.7% in 2024: the share of households that at some point in the year lacked the money or other resources to be sure of enough food for everyone. That is about the same as the 13.5% of 2023. USDA has stopped publishing the annual report, so no newer figure exists. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.
What it means for households: Household Financial Health Statistics
How the Household Food Insecurity Rate has moved since 2018
Share of U.S. households that were food insecure, 2024: 13.7%
Household Food Insecurity Rate: 13.7% in 2024. Annual, 2018–2024.
What the Household Food Insecurity Rate measures
A higher rate is worse for households.
Household Food Insecurity Rate by year, 2018 to 2024
| Year | Rate (%) | Change from a year earlier (percentage points) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 13.7 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | 13.5 | +0.7 |
| 2022 | 12.8 | +2.6 |
| 2021 | 10.2 | −0.3 |
| 2020 | 10.5 | 0.0 |
| 2019 | 10.5 | −0.6 |
| 2018 | 11.1 | — |
Annual · U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service
Counties with the highest safety net and buffer scores
There's no county figure for this measure, so this list uses the safety net and buffer part of our County Distress Index.
| Rank | County | Score (0–100) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choctaw County, OK | 94.8 |
| 2 | Stewart County, GA | 94.2 |
| 3 | Noxubee County, MS | 94.2 |
| 4 | Hudspeth County, TX | 94 |
| 5 | Brooks County, TX | 94 |
| 6 | Lake County, TN | 94 |
| 7 | Duval County, TX | 93.9 |
| 8 | Ripley County, MO | 93.5 |
| 9 | Dunklin County, MO | 93.3 |
| 10 | Quitman County, GA | 93.2 |
Questions about the Household Food Insecurity Rate
What was the U.S. food insecurity rate?
13.7% of households in 2024, the final year USDA published. That is about the same as the 13.5% of 2023.
Is this the share of Americans going hungry?
No. It is a share of households, not people, and USDA does not measure hunger. It counts households that were food insecure at any point in the year, not all year.
Where does food insecurity data come from?
USDA's Economic Research Service reports it from the Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey, fielded by the Census Bureau each December. USDA has ended the annual report.
Sources and method for the Household Food Insecurity Rate
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service We use the annual figures as published, from 2018 through 2024, with no adjustment of our own. U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service’s report
We write with assistance from AI tools. Figures come from the data and sources named on this page.