City Health Dashboard

Food Insecurity

Percentage of adults who reported that during the past year they did not have enough food and did not have money to get more

Source:
PLACES Project, Centers for Disease Control.
4%45%17.8
Dashboard-City Average
Dashboard-City Average

Why do we measure Food Insecurity?

Food security is essential for health.1 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines its absence – food insecurity - as “a household-level economic or social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate foods that support a healthy lifestyle.” Food insecurity encompasses a range of challenges: limited access to sufficient nutritious food, reduced food intake, and disrupted eating patterns which include having to eat less variety or less nutritious foods.1,2 Food insecurity remains a widespread issue in the U.S.: more than 17 million households experienced food insecurity at some point in 2022, and 18 million in 2023.3

Food insecurity is influenced by household members’ income, employment, and disability status, as well as by local infrastructure such as transportation, and by food accessibility and affordability.1,4 Analyses in 2023 found a higher prevalence of food insecurity among women, adults with disabilities, households with children under age 18, adults living in nonmetropolitan areas, and non-Hispanic Black or other non-Hispanic persons.3,5

The consequences of food insecurity extend beyond hunger; research shows that food insecurity is associated with higher risks for poor health outcomes like depression, anxiety, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.6-10 Among children, living in a food-insecure household has been linked to sub-optimal cognitive and behavioral development, depression, and hyperactivity.4,6,11

Addressing food insecurity requires ongoing investment to improve access to healthy, safe, and affordable food for all. Ensuring access to federal, state, and local assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Women, Infants, and Children program, among other policies that strengthen food security, helps support reliable access to adequate nutrition for those in need.1,4,12 Other approaches, such as retail store interventions and reducing transportation barriers with programs like Meals on Wheels can also play important roles in mitigating food insecurity. Strengthening such efforts will not only help improve public health outcomes but also promote equity, ensuring more people have resources vital to a healthy life.1,4,12-15

How do we measure Food Insecurity?

This metric includes adults, aged 18 or older, who in the past year report that the food they bought either always, usually, or sometimes did not last and they did not have money to get more.

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths of Metric

Limitations of Metric

Food insecurity is a multi-dimensional economic and social determinant of health, in contrast to food access which focuses on geographic proximity.1,2

Data are unavailable for certain states.

This metric is based on a single question assessing food insecurity; measures of food insecurity in other datasets may reflect responses to multiple questions.

This metric combines some categories of food insecurity measured on the survey (the metric does not distinguish between low food security and very low food security).

Calculation

Food Insecurity is calculated using the following formula:

food insecurity calc

For more information on the calculation, please refer to the City Health Dashboard Technical Documentation.

Data Source

Estimates for this metric are from one-year modeled PLACES Project Data (formerly 500 Cities Project) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Years of Collection

Calculated by the Dashboard Team using data from 2023, 1 year estimate

References

  1. National Institutes of Health. (2024, July 3). Food Accessibility, Insecurity and Health Outcomes. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/resources/understanding-health-disparities/food-accessibility-insecurity-and-health-outcomes.html#:~:text=Having%20access%20to%20nutritious%20food,%2C%20if%20needed%2C%20treat%20disease.

  2. U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (2025). Food Security in the U.S. - Definitions of Food Security. Retrieved February 2025 from https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security#

  3. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2024) Key Statistics & Graphics. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Updated September 4, 2024. Accessed February 27, 2025. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx

  4. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.).Reduce household food insecurity and hunger — NWS‑01. Healthy People 2030. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/reduce-household-food-insecurity-and-hunger-nws-01

  5. Weeks JD, Mykyta L, Madans JH. Adults living in families experiencing food insecurity in the past 30 days: United States, 2021. NCHS Data Brief, no 465. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2023. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:125707

  6. Cain, K. S., Meyer, S. C., Cummer, E., Patel, K. K., Casacchia, N. J., Montez, K., Palakshappa, D., & Brown, C. L. (2022). Association of Food Insecurity with Mental Health Outcomes in Parents and Children. Academic pediatrics, 22(7), 1105–1114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2022.04.010

  7. Choi, Y., & Kim, H. H. (2024). Social capital, food insecurity, and health outcomes in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perspectives in public health, 144(1), 39–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/17579139221106339

  8. Liu, Y., & Eicher-Miller, H. A. (2021). Food Insecurity and Cardiovascular Disease Risk. Current atherosclerosis reports, 23(6), 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-021-00923-6

  9. Seligman, H. K., Laraia, B. A., & Kushel, M. B. (2010). Food insecurity is associated with chronic disease among low-income NHANES participants. The Journal of nutrition, 140(2), 304–310. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.109.112573

  10. Seligman, H. K., Bindman, A. B., Vittinghoff, E., Kanaya, A. M., & Kushel, M. B. (2007). Food insecurity is associated with diabetes mellitus: results from the National Health Examination and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002. Journal of general internal medicine, 22(7), 1018–1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0192-6

  11. Gallegos, D., Eivers, A., Sondergeld, P., & Pattinson, C. (2021). Food Insecurity and Child Development: A State-of-the-Art Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(17), 8990. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18178990

  12. Thorndike, A. N., Gardner, C. D., Kendrick, K. B., Seligman, H. K., Yaroch, A. L., Gomes, A. V., Ivy, K. N., Scarmo, S., Cotwright, C. J., Schwartz, M. B., & American Heart Association Advocacy Coordinating Committee (2022). Strengthening US Food Policies and Programs to Promote Equity in Nutrition Security: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation, 145(24), e1077–e1093. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001072

  13. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Social Determinants of Health: Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Programs. Healthy People 2030. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/tools-action/browse-evidence-based-resources/social-determinants-health-fruit-and-vegetable-incentive-programs#:~:text=FVI%20programs%20are%20expected%20to,cash%20back%20for%20future%20purchases)

  14. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Nutrition: Home-delivered and Congregate Meal Services for Older Adults. Healthy People 2030. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/tools-action/browse-evidence-based-resources/nutrition-home-delivered-and-congregate-meal-services-older-adults

  15. Ettinger de Cuba, S. A., Bovell-Ammon, A. R., Cook, J. T., Coleman, S. M., Black, M. M., Chilton, M. M., Casey, P. H., Cutts, D. B., Heeren, T. C., Sandel, M. T., Sheward, R., & Frank, D. A. (2019). SNAP, Young Children's Health, and Family Food Security and Healthcare Access. American journal of preventive medicine, 57(4), 525–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2019.04.027

Last updated: March 10, 2026