Number and percentage of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, by state: Selected years, 2000-01 through 2018-19

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Table 204.10.

State	Number of students enrolled						Number of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch									Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch
State	2000-01		2010-11	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2000-01		2010-11	2016-17		2017-18		2018-19		2000-01		2010-11	2016-17		2017-18		2018-19
1	2		3	4	5	6	7		8	9		10		11		12		13	14		15		16
United States	46,579,068	¹	48,941,267	49,944,748	50,044,716	50,138,019	17,839,867	¹	23,544,479	26,113,604	¹	26,341,970	¹	26,206,442	¹	38.3	¹	48.1	52.3	¹	52.6	¹	52.3	¹
Alabama	728,351		730,427	744,809	742,437	738,485	335,143		402,386	384,199		415,423		407,482		46.0		55.1	51.6		56.0		55.2
Alaska	105,333		132,104	132,709	132,820	130,905	32,468		50,701	60,182		72,080		62,808		30.8		38.4	45.3		54.3		48.0
Arizona	877,696	²	1,067,210	993,129	977,571	994,358	274,277	²	482,044	566,549		538,290		534,074		31.2	²	45.2	57.0		55.1		53.7
Arkansas	449,959		482,114	492,802	495,773	491,696	205,058		291,608	313,314	³	315,203	³	313,991		45.6		60.5	63.6	³	63.6	³	63.9
California	6,050,753		6,169,427	6,214,620	6,195,446	6,171,073	2,820,611		3,335,885	3,611,597		3,726,495		3,666,552		46.6		54.1	58.1		60.1		59.4
Colorado	724,349		842,864	904,798	910,050	911,339	195,148		336,426	381,537		380,318		371,615		26.9		39.9	42.2		41.8		40.8
Connecticut	562,179	²	552,919	529,616	519,710	514,690	143,030	²	190,554	188,877		188,482		214,502		25.4	²	34.5	35.7		36.3		41.7
Delaware	114,676		128,342	136,217	136,041	138,397	37,766		61,564	65,563	⁴	47,580	⁴	43,439	⁴	32.9		48.0	48.1	⁴	35.0	⁴	31.4	⁴
District of Columbia	68,380		71,263	84,970	86,360	87,686	47,839		52,027	64,900	^4,5	65,961	^4,5	66,974	^4,5	70.0		73.0	76.4	^4,5	76.4	^4,5	76.4	^4,5
Florida	2,434,755		2,641,555	2,811,090	2,832,766	2,846,142	1,079,009		1,479,519	1,633,226		1,622,871		1,569,588		44.3		56.0	58.1		57.3		55.1
Georgia	1,444,937		1,676,419	1,763,540	1,768,562	1,767,145	624,511		961,954	1,092,777		1,076,613		1,065,941		43.2		57.4	62.0		60.9		60.3
Hawaii	184,357		179,601	181,550	180,837	181,278	80,657		84,106	86,376		85,219		83,198		43.8		46.8	47.6		47.1		45.9
Idaho	244,755		275,815	297,118	301,118	308,816	85,824		124,104	136,058		132,442		119,026		35.1		45.0	45.8		44.0		38.5
Illinois	2,048,792	²	1,973,401	2,009,331	1,992,111	1,956,231	759,973	²	921,471	1,008,830		983,855		956,769		37.1	²	46.7	50.2		49.4		48.9
Indiana	977,219		1,038,817	1,048,952	1,053,841	1,055,086	285,267		485,728	502,844		525,526		515,796		29.2		46.8	47.9		49.9		48.9
Iowa	492,021		484,856	500,960	502,877	506,308	131,553		188,486	204,841		201,627		215,291		26.7		38.9	40.9		40.1		42.5
Kansas	462,594		479,953	489,706	490,629	491,423	154,693		228,852	235,849		233,302		229,930		33.4		47.7	48.2		47.6		46.8
Kentucky	626,723		673,128	683,844	680,860	677,718	298,334		380,773	401,614		406,314		384,859		47.6		56.6	58.7		59.7		56.8
Louisiana	741,162		695,772	716,248	715,096	710,797	433,068		460,546	451,173		387,083		379,959		58.4		66.2	63.0		54.1		53.5
Maine	198,532		183,477	175,383	175,304	175,230	60,162		78,915	79,819		78,522		77,265		30.3		43.0	45.5		44.8		44.1
Maryland	852,911		852,202	886,187	893,679	896,811	255,872		341,557	413,580		415,367		415,502		30.0		40.1	46.7		46.5		46.3
Massachusetts	979,590		955,301	953,693	953,645	951,400	237,871		326,849	380,744	^4,6	380,725	^4,6	379,828	^4,6	24.3		34.2	39.9	^4,6	39.9	^4,6	39.9	^4,6
Michigan	1,703,260		1,551,861	1,477,193	1,471,209	1,456,140	504,044		719,800	675,696		740,066		728,205		29.6		46.4	45.7		50.3		50.0
Minnesota	854,154		837,930	874,432	884,397	888,786	218,867		306,136	329,341		328,701		323,126		25.6		36.5	37.7		37.2		36.4
Mississippi	497,421		489,462	483,148	478,124	471,298	319,670		345,734	362,296		356,365		348,848		64.3		70.6	75.0		74.5		74.0
Missouri	912,247		902,375	913,838	910,283	908,255	315,608		406,358	481,683		478,503		456,240		34.6		45.0	52.7		52.6		50.2
Montana	154,438		140,497	146,213	146,550	147,375	47,415		57,836	66,649		64,961		57,489		30.7		41.2	45.6		44.3		39.0
Nebraska	286,138		298,276	319,147	323,728	326,081	87,045		127,114	142,555		148,540		147,328		30.4		42.6	44.7		45.9		45.2
Nevada	282,621		436,840	472,790	481,005	492,353	92,978		219,904	287,510		282,776		301,642		32.9		50.3	60.8		58.8		61.3
New Hampshire	206,919		194,001	179,762	178,306	177,355	31,212		48,904	49,058		47,169		47,848		15.1		25.2	27.3		26.5		27.0
New Jersey	1,312,983		1,356,882	1,370,824	1,370,584	1,365,233	357,728		444,735	519,298		519,524		513,638		27.2		32.8	37.9		37.9		37.6
New Mexico	320,303		335,810	332,184	333,879	333,526	174,939		227,077	237,331		245,797		241,161		54.6		67.6	71.4		73.6		72.3
New York	2,859,927		2,722,761	2,701,730	2,697,327	2,673,904	1,236,945		1,315,564	1,422,290		1,477,753		1,440,275		43.3		48.3	52.6		54.8		53.9
North Carolina	1,194,371		1,487,699	1,549,452	1,553,494	1,552,472	470,316		747,978	889,189		868,117		869,659		39.4		50.3	57.4		55.9		56.0
North Dakota	109,201		94,273	107,460	109,688	111,651	31,840		29,929	33,248		33,001		33,828		29.2		31.7	30.9		30.1		30.3
Ohio	1,745,237		1,747,851	1,707,469	1,701,472	1,692,789	494,829		745,121	757,120		782,651		767,046		28.4		42.6	44.3		46.0		45.3
Oklahoma	623,110		659,376	693,747	694,932	698,683	300,179		398,917	433,509		432,732		421,047	⁴	48.2		60.5	62.5		62.3		60.3	⁴
Oregon	535,617		553,468	552,350	553,257	551,871	186,203		280,174	279,145		272,748		270,083		34.8		50.6	50.5		49.3		48.9
Pennsylvania	1,798,977		1,742,608	1,572,026	1,601,823	1,709,334	510,121		686,641	747,388		794,648		869,871		28.4		39.4	47.5		49.6		50.9
Rhode Island	157,347		142,575	140,469	141,448	141,742	52,209		61,127	66,895		66,156		67,185		33.2		42.9	47.6		46.8		47.4
South Carolina	677,411		722,203	770,800	777,254	780,529	320,254		395,033	516,520		514,156		483,606		47.3		54.7	67.0		66.2		62.0
South Dakota	128,598		125,883	135,762	137,251	138,402	37,857		46,718	51,430		51,412		51,080		29.4		37.1	37.9		37.5		36.9
Tennessee	909,161	²	987,078	997,148	994,568	1,006,267	436,298	²	542,953	586,427	^4,5	584,910	^4,5	591,790	^4,5	48.0	²	55.0	58.8	^4,5	58.8	^4,5	58.8	^4,5
Texas	4,059,353		4,916,401	5,360,055	5,400,720	5,430,433	1,823,029		2,471,212	3,159,896		3,169,088		3,288,771		44.9		50.3	59.0		58.7		60.6
Utah	470,265		585,552	645,030	666,841	674,355	135,428		223,943	235,042		227,388		222,152		28.8		38.2	36.4		34.1		32.9
Vermont	102,049		85,144	84,325	84,334	83,642	23,986		31,339	32,507		32,171		30,445		23.5		36.8	38.5		38.1		36.4
Virginia	1,067,710		1,250,206	1,273,127	1,278,044	1,282,643	320,233		458,879	525,022		560,281		569,998		30.0		36.7	41.2		43.8		44.4
Washington	1,004,770	²	1,043,466	1,101,514	1,110,163	1,118,916	326,295	²	418,065	480,171		477,543		481,076		32.5	²	40.1	43.6		43.0		43.0
West Virginia	286,285		282,879	273,845	272,253	267,968	143,446		145,605	122,257		151,490	⁴	135,107	⁴	50.1		51.5	44.6		55.6	⁴	50.4	⁴
Wisconsin	859,276		872,164	863,557	860,067	858,766	219,276		342,660	323,368		319,045		339,164		25.5		39.3	37.4		37.1		39.5
Wyoming	89,895		88,779	94,079	94,182	94,236	43,483		32,968	36,314		34,980		34,344		48.4		37.1	38.6		37.1		36.4

¹ U.S. total includes imputation for nonreporting states.

² Imputation for survey nonresponse. State-level imputations for 2000-01 were based on the reported percentages for 2001-02 applied to the 2000-01 enrollments.

³ Imputation for survey nonresponse. State-level imputations for 2016-17 and 2017-18 were based on the reported percentages for 2015-16 applied to the 2016-17 and 2017-18 enrollments.

⁴ This state reported only the count of students who were eligible based on direct certification. Direct certification is the process by which children are certified for free meals based on household participation in one or more means-tested federal assistance programs—such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—without the need for a household application.

⁵ Imputation for survey nonresponse. State-level imputations for 2016-17 through 2018-19 were based on the reported percentages for 2015-16 applied to the 2016-17 through 2018-19 enrollments.

⁶ Imputation for survey nonresponse. State-level imputations for 2016-17 through 2018-19 were based on the reported percentages for 2014-15 (the most recent year for which percentages were reported) applied to the 2016-17 through 2018-19 enrollments.

NOTE: The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program. Table reflects counts of students enrolled in all schools for which both enrollment data and free/reduced-price lunch eligibility data were reported. Data for 2016-17 through 2018-19 include students whose NSLP eligibility has been determined through direct certification.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2000-01, 2010-11, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19. (This table was prepared October 2020.)

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