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Digest of Education Statistics
2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 46. Number and percentage of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, by state: Selected years, 2000-01 through 2010-11
State Number of students Number of students eligible for
free/reduced-price lunch
Percent of students eligible for
free/reduced-price lunch
2000-01 2005-06 2009-10 2010-11 2000-01 2005-06 2009-10 2010-11 2000-01 2005-06 2009-10 2010-11
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
United States 46,579,068 1  48,403,390 48,663,648 1  48,941,267 17,839,867 1  20,333,474 23,095,560 1  23,544,479 38.3 1  42.0 47.5 1  48.1
Alabama 728,351   741,544 748,836   730,427 335,143   383,219 411,067   402,386 46.0   51.7 54.9   55.1
Alaska 105,333   103,498 131,508   132,104 32,468   41,872 47,605   50,701 30.8   40.5 36.2   38.4
Arizona 877,696 2 955,320 1,061,408   1,067,210 274,277 2 492,450 508,240   482,044 31.2 2 51.5 47.9   45.2
Arkansas 449,959   474,206 480,060   482,114 205,058   250,641 286,477   291,608 45.6   52.9 59.7   60.5
California 6,050,753   6,311,900 6,085,255   6,169,427 2,820,611   3,063,627 3,386,691   3,335,885 46.6   48.5 55.7   54.1
                                     
Colorado 724,349   779,825 831,906   842,864 195,148   258,264 319,404   336,426 26.9   33.1 38.4   39.9
Connecticut 562,179 2 575,051 556,498   552,919 143,030 2 152,669 179,651   190,554 25.4 2 26.5 32.3   34.5
Delaware 114,676   120,937 124,809   128,342 37,766   43,682 58,375   61,564 32.9   36.1 46.8   48.0
District of Columbia 68,380   66,498 66,849   71,263 47,839   41,050 48,330   52,027 70.0   61.7 72.3   73.0
Florida 2,434,755   2,674,998 2,634,321   2,641,555 1,079,009   1,224,228 1,408,541   1,479,519 44.3   45.8 53.5   56.0
                                     
Georgia 1,444,937   1,598,461 1,667,685   1,676,419 624,511   795,394 934,899   961,954 43.2   49.8 56.1   57.4
Hawaii 184,357   184,925 180,196   179,601 80,657   74,926 77,947   84,106 43.8   40.5 43.3   46.8
Idaho 244,755   260,343 276,299   275,815 85,824   99,093 118,932   124,104 35.1   38.1 43.0   45.0
Illinois 2,048,792 2 1,976,077 1,954,124   1,973,401 759,973 2 785,715 901,759   921,471 37.1 2 39.8 46.1   46.7
Indiana 977,219   1,034,719 1,046,357   1,038,817 285,267   373,433 474,326   485,728 29.2   36.1 45.3   46.8
                                     
Iowa 492,021   481,094 482,123   484,856 131,553   154,416 179,921   188,486 26.7   32.1 37.3   38.9
Kansas 462,594   466,263 469,218   479,953 154,693   180,919 214,437   228,852 33.4   38.8 45.7   47.7
Kentucky 626,723   641,682 674,953   673,128 298,334   336,287 370,264   380,773 47.6   52.4 54.9   56.6
Louisiana 741,162   654,388 690,741   695,772 433,068   400,596 454,338   460,546 58.4   61.2 65.8   66.2
Maine 198,532   189,572 184,232   183,477 60,162   65,877 76,715   78,915 30.3   34.8 41.6   43.0
                                     
Maryland 852,911   860,018 848,412   852,202 255,872   272,069 324,904   341,557 30.0   31.6 38.3   40.1
Massachusetts 979,590   971,907 957,053   955,301 237,871   274,515 315,153   326,849 24.3   28.2 32.9   34.2
Michigan 1,703,260   1,711,532 1,615,731   1,551,861 504,044   609,754 741,028   719,800 29.6   35.6 45.9   46.4
Minnesota 854,154   838,998 836,936   837,930 218,867   253,938 296,756   306,136 25.6   30.3 35.5   36.5
Mississippi 497,421   494,744 488,994   489,462 319,670   344,107 344,894   345,734 64.3   69.6 70.5   70.6
                                     
Missouri 912,247   915,844 907,811   902,375 315,608   358,428 401,755   406,358 34.6   39.1 44.3   45.0
Montana 154,438   143,093 140,553   140,497 47,415   50,172 56,201   57,836 30.7   35.1 40.0   41.2
Nebraska 286,138   286,610 295,261   298,276 87,045   99,387 121,811   127,114 30.4   34.7 41.3   42.6
Nevada 282,621   410,531 426,838   436,840 92,978   170,039 182,399   219,904 32.9   41.4 42.7   50.3
New Hampshire 206,919   203,998 197,140   194,001 31,212   35,087 46,246   48,904 15.1   17.2 23.5   25.2
                                     
New Jersey 1,312,983   1,395,600 1,369,418   1,356,882 357,728   373,946 445,174   444,735 27.2   26.8 32.5   32.8
New Mexico 320,303   326,755 327,689   335,810 174,939   181,916 218,203   227,077 54.6   55.7 66.6   67.6
New York 2,859,927   2,812,964 2,766,052 2 2,722,761 1,236,945   1,260,933 1,248,215 2 1,315,564 43.3   44.8 45.1 2 48.3
North Carolina 1,194,371   1,356,570 1,445,761   1,487,699 470,316   603,316 720,798   747,978 39.4   44.5 49.9   50.3
North Dakota 109,201   98,284 93,055   94,273 31,840   29,064 30,693   29,929 29.2   29.6 33.0   31.7
                                     
Ohio 1,745,237   1,836,982 1,761,636   1,747,851 494,829   597,517 709,928   745,121 28.4   32.5 40.3   42.6
Oklahoma 623,110   632,812 654,167   659,376 300,179   346,070 384,448   398,917 48.2   54.7 58.8   60.5
Oregon 535,617   534,814 541,789   553,468 186,203   230,737 272,196   280,174 34.8   43.1 50.2   50.6
Pennsylvania 1,798,977   1,813,760 1,734,989   1,742,608 510,121   574,951 662,900   686,641 28.4   31.7 38.2   39.4
Rhode Island 157,347   151,686 143,674   142,575 52,209   53,521 60,179   61,127 33.2   35.3 41.9   42.9
                                     
South Carolina 677,411   700,397 721,532   722,203 320,254   361,567 394,018   395,033 47.3   51.6 54.6   54.7
South Dakota 128,598   121,999 122,263   125,883 37,857   39,059 45,956   46,718 29.4   32.0 37.6   37.1
Tennessee 909,161 2 934,444 948,007   987,078 436,298 2 448,431 516,062   542,953 48.0 2 48.0 54.4   55.0
Texas 4,059,353   4,523,575 4,847,073   4,916,401 1,823,029   2,181,697 2,449,189   2,471,212 44.9   48.2 50.5   50.3
Utah 470,265   508,399 580,718   585,552 135,428   164,255 244,433   223,943 28.8   32.3 42.1   38.2
                                     
Vermont 102,049   96,638 85,339   85,144 23,986   25,487 29,529   31,339 23.5   26.4 34.6   36.8
Virginia 1,067,710   1,167,860 1,219,806   1,250,206 320,233   377,725 444,715   458,879 30.0   32.3 36.5   36.7
Washington 1,004,770 2 1,031,967 996,604   1,043,466 326,295 2 376,198 428,258   418,065 32.5 2 36.5 43.0   40.1
West Virginia 286,285   280,699 282,661   282,879 143,446   137,878 147,036   145,605 50.1   49.1 52.0   51.5
Wisconsin 859,276   864,207 871,156   872,164 219,276   256,645 323,510   342,660 25.5   29.7 37.1   39.3
Wyoming 89,895   84,402 88,152   88,779 43,483   26,707 31,054   32,968 48.4   31.6 35.2   37.1
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. The state-level imputation for 2009-10 was based on the reported percentage for 2008-09 applied to the 2009-10 enrollment.
NOTE: Table reflects counts of students enrolled in all schools for which both enrollment data and free/reduced-price lunch eligibility data were reported. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2000-01, 2005-06, 2009-10, and 2010-11. (This table was prepared December 2012.)

2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest