January 4, 2002
Hunger Statistics
Percentage of all households that are "food insecure with hunger" and "food insecure," by state, 1997-99
| State | Food insecure with hunger | Margin of error | Total food insecure | Margin of error | State | Food insecure with hunger | Margin of error | Total food insecure | Margin of error | |
| Alabama | 2.7 | 0.8 | 9.9 | 1.5 | Montana | 3.5 | 0.9 | 11.2 | 1.5 | |
| Alaska | 3.8 | 1.0 | 8.4 | 1.5 | Nebraska | 2.3 | 0.8 | 7.5 | 1.4 | |
| Arizona | 3.7 | 0.9 | 11.6 | 1.5 | Nevada | 3.4 | 0.9 | 8.6 | 1.4 | |
| Arkansas | 3.5 | 0.9 | 11.4 | 1.6 | New Hampshire | 2.3 | 0.9 | 6.7 | 1.4 | |
| California | 3.5 | 0.4 | 10.8 | 0.6 | New Jersey | 2.7 | 0.5 | 7.2 | 0.9 | |
| Colorado | 2.6 | 0.8 | 7.5 | 1.3 | New Mexico | 4.6 | 1.0 | 13.8 | 1.7 | |
| Connecticut | 3.5 | 1.0 | 7.8 | 1.5 | New York | 3.8 | 0.4 | 10.1 | 0.7 | |
| Delaware | 2.4 | 0.9 | 7.4 | 1.5 | North Carolina | 2.3 | 0.5 | 7.9 | 1.0 | |
| District of Columbia | 4.1 | 1.0 | 10.6 | 1.6 | North Dakota | 1.4 | 0.6 | 5.1 | 1.1 | |
| Florida | 3.7 | 0.5 | 10.5 | 0.8 | Ohio | 2.8 | 0.5 | 7.5 | 0.8 | |
| Georgia | 2.8 | 0.7 | 8.5 | 1.2 | Oklahoma | 3.4 | 0.8 | 11.3 | 1.5 | |
| Hawaii | 2.4 | 0.9 | 9.2 | 1.7 | Oregon | 5.7 | 1.2 | 12.3 | 1.7 | |
| Idaho | 3.3 | 0.9 | 9.6 | 1.4 | Pennsylvania | 2.0 | 0.4 | 6.6 | 0.7 | |
| Illinois | 2.7 | 0.5 | 7.8 | 0.8 | Rhode Island | 1.9 | 0.8 | 7.0 | 1.4 | |
| Indiana | 2.4 | 0.8 | 7.6 | 1.3 | South Carolina | 3.2 | 0.9 | 9.9 | 1.5 | |
| Iowa | 2.2 | 0.7 | 6.5 | 1.2 | South Dakota | 1.9 | 0.6 | 6.3 | 1.2 | |
| Kansas | 3.6 | 0.9 | 9.6 | 1.4 | Tennessee | 3.9 | 1.0 | 11.1 | 1.6 | |
| Kentucky | 2.9 | 0.8 | 8.2 | 1.4 | Texas | 4.2 | 0.5 | 12.4 | 0.9 | |
| Louisiana | 4.1 | 1.0 | 12.1 | 1.6 | Utah | 3.2 | 0.9 | 8.8 | 1.4 | |
| Maine | 3.2 | 0.9 | 8.7 | 1.5 | Vermont | 2.0 | 0.8 | 7.3 | 1.4 | |
| Maryland | 3.2 | 0.9 | 7.1 | 1.3 | Virginia | 2.6 | 0.7 | 7.1 | 1.2 | |
| Massachusetts | 2.0 | 0.5 | 6.8 | 1.0 | Washington | 4.7 | 1.1 | 11.6 | 1.7 | |
| Michigan | 2.3 | 0.5 | 7.5 | 0.8 | West Virginia | 3.1 | 0.8 | 8.8 | 1.3 | |
| Minnesota | 2.5 | 0.8 | 6.3 | 1.2 | Wisconsin | 2.4 | 0.7 | 7.2 | 1.2 | |
| Mississippi | 2.9 | 0.8 | 11.4 | 1.6 | Wyoming | 2.8 | 0.8 | 8.6 | 1.4 | |
| Missouri | 2.2 | 0.8 | 7.5 | 1.4 | United States | 3.1 | 0.1 | 9.2 | 0.2 |
Note: Margins of error are reported at the 90 percent confidence level. This means that we are 90 percent certain that the actual percentage falls somewhere in a range of plus or minus the margin of error. For example, we can say with 90 percent statistical certainty that in Alaska the food insecurity rate is between 6.9 and 9.9 percent. Users should consider the margins of error in calculating whether apparent differences between states, or between states and the US, may be due to sampling error.
Related materials:
OCPP Publications on Hunger
Hunger in Oregon. A summary of what we know
Hunger in Your State: A guide for producing state level reports (PDF)
The USDA previously reported food security and hunger rates for 1996-98 in Nord, Jemison, and Bickel, “Prevalence of Food Insecurity and Hunger, by State, 1996-1998,” (September 1999). Users should not draw conclusions about increases or decreases in food insecurity or hunger by comparing USDA's 1996-98 figures to the 1997-99 figures above without carefully considering the sampling error involved and the substantial overlap in the two data sets. Finally, the figures above will be updated for 1998-2000 by the Oregon Center for Public Policy in a forthcoming guide for producing reports on hunger at the state level.
--Michael Leachman, OCPP
Of Note