🔍 Data Hunt: Food Insecurity in America
- Tracy Flood
- Nov 19
- 3 min read
Free, publicly available data on indicators for food insecurity in the United States.
Data Ecosystem
The data ecosystem can be divided into sources of data and curators of data. Sources of data are shared, original datasets created through surveys, calculations of the environment, etc. Curators of data gather indicators from many sources
Sources of Data
American Community Survey (ACS)
Map the Meal Gap
PLACES Project
School Lunch Program
Food Access Research Atlas (FARA)
Curators of data (free, no charge or login) - gather data from different sources
CARES Map Room - A great place to start your data hunt!
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
Congressional Health District Dashboard
Sources of Data
Indicators collected and/or calculated from survey data, food locations, demographic data, environment data, etc.
American Community Survey (ACS)
By: U.S. Census Bureau
About: Estimates (1-year, 5-year estimates) calculated from a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau between census years.
🔗 Multiple websites to access ACS Data
data.census.gov (official website of U.S. Census Bureau)
Census Reporter (independent non-profit, downloads American Community Survey Data each year)
🗺️Geographies: Census Tract, State Legislative Districts, Congressional Districts, ZIP Codes (ZCTA), City (Place), County, State, United States, and more
Indicators:
Households that received Food Stamps/SNAP in the past 12 months
Map the Meal Gap
By: Feeding America
About: An analysis of the estimated food budget “gap” i.e. benefits received vs. anticipated needs. Accounts for variations in food assistance program eligibility by state.
🔗https://map.feedingamerica.org/ > Search by geography
🗺️Geographies: City, County, Congressional District, State
Indicators:
Food Insecure Population
Food Insecurity Rate
Estimated Program Eligibility (Above or Below Threshold)
Meal Cost
Food Budget Shortfall
PLACES Project
By: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
About: Small area estimates of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national survey.
🔗https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/22c7182a162d45788dd52a2362f8ed65 > Go To Tab: “Health Related Needs”
🗺️Geographies: Census Tract, city, county (Zoom into map to see)
Indicators:
Food Stamps, self-reported
Food Insurity, self-reported
School Lunch Program
By: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Common Core of Data (CCD)
About. Data collected from schools and school districts, organized into a national dataset.
🔗Downloadable datasets are available on the Common Core of Data website. Want to visualize the data? Access maps via the CARES Map Room (below)
🗺️Geographies. School, School District, State
Indicators.
Students Eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch, NCES CCD 2023-24
Food Access Research Atlas (FARA)
By: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
About. Data collected from schools and school districts, organized into a national dataset.
🔗https://gisportal.ers.usda.gov/portal/apps/experiencebuilder/experience/?page=Full-FEA-Map
🗺️Geographies. Location data, Census Tracts
Indicators.
FARA Data
Population with Limited Food Access, USDA - FARA 2019
Population with Limited Food Access, Children (Age 0-17), USDA - FARA 2019
Population with Limited Food Access, Senior (Age 65+), USDA - FARA 2019
Population with Limited Food Access, No Vehicle, USDA - FARA 2019
Population with Limited Food Access, Low Income, USDA - FARA 2019
Food Desert Census Tracts, USDA - FARA 2019
Food Desert Census Tracts, Change, USDA - FARA 2015-201
Low Food Access Census Tracts, USDA - FARA 2015
Other USDA Data
SNAP-Authorized Retailers, USDA November 2025
Major Supermarkets, USDA November 2025
Curators of Data
Collect and gather data from multiple sources.
CARES Map Room
By: University of Missouri, Extension Program
About: A great place to start! One of the most complete collections of publicly available data from various sources, accessible via a map room.
🔗https://careshq.org/map-room/ > Left Navigation Button: “Add Data”
🗺️Geographies. Location Data (dots on map), Census Tract, County, ZCTA
Indicators.
Households Receiving SNAP Benefits, ACS 2019-23
SNAP-Authorized Retailers, USDA November 2025
Major Supermarkets, USDA November 2025
Students Eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch, NCES CCD 2023-24
Food Insecure Population, Percent by County, Feeding America 2023
Food Desert Census Tracts, USDA - FARA 2019
Population with Limited Food Access, No Vehicle, USDA - FARA 2019
Plus much more!
County Health Rankings
By: Population Health Institute, University of Wisconsin
About. A curated collection of indicators with a high-level of evidence to be associated with health outcomes.
🗺️Geographies. City (select cities), County, State
Indicators.
Food Environment Index, USDA Food Environment Atlas; Map the Meal Gap from Feeding America, 2019 & 2022
Congressional Health District Dashboard
By: NYU Langone Health
About. A curated collection of indicators with a high-level of evidence to be associated with health outcomes.
🗺️Geographies. Congressional District
Indicators.
Food Insecurity, PLACES Project, Centers for Disease Control, 2022
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