Issue Brief: Hunger Statistics

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Hunger in Oregon. A summary of what we know

Hunger in Your State. A guide for producing state level reports (pdf file 1.7 Mb).

All OCPP Publications on hunger and food stamps

Release date: January 4, 2002

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.

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

Oregon Center for Public Policy
204 N. First St. Suite C
P.O. Box 7, Silverton, OR 97381
Ph: 503-873-1201 Fx: 503-873-1947
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