Table 204.10.

Number and percentage of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, by state: Selected years, 2000-01 through 2016-17

State	Number of students					Number of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch							Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch
	2000-01		2010-11	2015-16	2016-17	2000-01		2010-11	2015-16		2016-17		2000-01		2010-11	2015-16		2016-17
1	2		3	4	5	6		7	8		9		10		11	12		13
United States	46,579,068	1	48,941,267	49,753,676	49,944,748	17,839,867	1	23,544,479	25,900,186	1	26,113,604	1	38.3	1	48.1	52.1	1	52.3	1
Alabama	728,351		730,427	742,919	744,809	335,143		402,386	379,554		384,199		46.0		55.1	51.1		51.6
Alaska	105,333		132,104	132,466	132,709	32,468		50,701	56,625		60,182		30.8		38.4	42.7		45.3
Arizona	877,696	2	1,067,210	973,369	993,129	274,277	2	482,044	488,182		566,549		31.2	2	45.2	50.2		57.0
Arkansas	449,959		482,114	491,485	492,802	205,058		291,608	312,477		313,314	4	45.6		60.5	63.6		63.6	4
California	6,050,753		6,169,427	6,208,436	6,214,620	2,820,611		3,335,885	3,657,497		3,611,597		46.6		54.1	58.9		58.1
Colorado	724,349		842,864	899,008	904,798	195,148		336,426	376,162		381,537		26.9		39.9	41.8		42.2
Connecticut	562,179	2	552,919	537,536	529,616	143,030	2	190,554	203,774		188,877		25.4	2	34.5	37.9		35.7
Delaware	114,676		128,342	133,792	136,217	37,766		61,564	50,459		65,563	5	32.9		48.0	37.7		48.1	5
District of Columbia	68,380		71,263	83,009	84,970	47,839		52,027	63,402		64,900	5	70.0		73.0	76.4		76.4	5
Florida	2,434,755		2,641,555	2,791,193	2,811,090	1,079,009		1,479,519	1,640,217		1,633,226		44.3		56.0	58.8		58.1
Georgia	1,444,937		1,676,419	1,756,579	1,763,540	624,511		961,954	1,096,426		1,092,777		43.2		57.4	62.4		62.0
Hawaii	184,357		179,601	181,991	181,550	80,657		84,106	90,298		86,376		43.8		46.8	49.6		47.6
Idaho	244,755		275,815	292,233	297,118	85,824		124,104	137,145		136,058		35.1		45.0	46.9		45.8
Illinois	2,048,792	2	1,973,401	2,018,688	2,009,331	759,973	2	921,471	1,006,936		1,008,830		37.1	2	46.7	49.9		50.2
Indiana	977,219		1,038,817	1,045,235	1,048,952	285,267		485,728	504,787		502,844		29.2		46.8	48.3		47.9
Iowa	492,021		484,856	500,102	500,960	131,553		188,486	207,129		204,841		26.7		38.9	41.4		40.9
Kansas	462,594		479,953	488,568	489,706	154,693		228,852	240,209		235,849		33.4		47.7	49.2		48.2
Kentucky	626,723		673,128	686,113	683,844	298,334		380,773	407,754		401,614		47.6		56.6	59.4		58.7
Louisiana	741,162		695,772	683,839	716,248	433,068		460,546	419,284		451,173		58.4		66.2	61.3		63.0
Maine	198,532		183,477	176,400	175,383	60,162		78,915	81,172		79,819		30.3		43.0	46.0		45.5
Maryland	852,911		852,202	879,580	886,187	255,872		341,557	395,834		413,580		30.0		40.1	45.0		46.7
Massachusetts	979,590		955,301	953,423	953,693	237,871		326,849	380,636	3	380,744	5	24.3		34.2	39.9	3	39.9	5
Michigan	1,703,260		1,551,861	1,484,270	1,477,193	504,044		719,800	684,945		675,696		29.6		46.4	46.1		45.7
Minnesota	854,154		837,930	863,719	874,432	218,867		306,136	329,124		329,341		25.6		36.5	38.1		37.7
Mississippi	497,421		489,462	487,195	483,148	319,670		345,734	365,109		362,296		64.3		70.6	74.9		75.0
Missouri	912,247		902,375	917,862	913,838	315,608		406,358	460,004		481,683		34.6		45.0	50.1		52.7
Montana	154,438		140,497	140,868	146,213	47,415		57,836	65,095		66,649		30.7		41.2	46.2		45.6
Nebraska	286,138		298,276	316,009	319,147	87,045		127,114	139,569		142,555		30.4		42.6	44.2		44.7
Nevada	282,621		436,840	455,144	472,790	92,978		219,904	267,801		287,510		32.9		50.3	58.8		60.8
New Hampshire	206,919		194,001	181,307	179,762	31,212		48,904	51,343		49,058		15.1		25.2	28.3		27.3
New Jersey	1,312,983		1,356,882	1,368,639	1,370,824	357,728		444,735	514,386		519,298		27.2		32.8	37.6		37.9
New Mexico	320,303		335,810	334,061	332,184	174,939		227,077	239,540		237,331		54.6		67.6	71.7		71.4
New York	2,859,927		2,722,761	2,660,164	2,701,730	1,236,945		1,315,564	1,316,954		1,422,290		43.3		48.3	49.5		52.6
North Carolina	1,194,371		1,487,699	1,544,677	1,549,452	470,316		747,978	885,934		889,189		39.4		50.3	57.4		57.4
North Dakota	109,201		94,273	106,358	107,460	31,840		29,929	31,764		33,248		29.2		31.7	29.9		30.9
Ohio	1,745,237		1,747,851	1,707,833	1,707,469	494,829		745,121	766,460		757,120		28.4		42.6	44.9		44.3
Oklahoma	623,110		659,376	682,309	693,747	300,179		398,917	424,665		433,509		48.2		60.5	62.2		62.5
Oregon	535,617		553,468	549,322	552,350	186,203		280,174	282,506		279,145		34.8		50.6	51.4		50.5
Pennsylvania	1,798,977		1,742,608	1,665,328	1,572,026	510,121		686,641	802,045		747,388		28.4		39.4	48.2		47.5
Rhode Island	157,347		142,575	140,427	140,469	52,209		61,127	65,995		66,895		33.2		42.9	47.0		47.6
South Carolina	677,411		722,203	763,483	770,800	320,254		395,033	458,287		516,520		47.3		54.7	60.0		67.0
South Dakota	128,598		125,883	133,746	135,762	37,857		46,718	55,715		51,430		29.4		37.1	41.7		37.9
Tennessee	909,161	2	987,078	974,752	997,148	436,298	2	542,953	573,256		586,427	5	48.0	2	55.0	58.8		58.8	5
Texas	4,059,353		4,916,401	5,300,136	5,360,055	1,823,029		2,471,212	3,123,844		3,159,896		44.9		50.3	58.9		59.0
Utah	470,265		585,552	647,843	645,030	135,428		223,943	235,644		235,042		28.8		38.2	36.4		36.4
Vermont	102,049		85,144	84,355	84,325	23,986		31,339	32,354		32,507		23.5		36.8	38.4		38.5
Virginia	1,067,710		1,250,206	1,271,067	1,273,127	320,233		458,879	523,972		525,022		30.0		36.7	41.2		41.2
Washington	1,004,770	2	1,043,466	1,086,805	1,101,514	326,295	2	418,065	493,019		480,171		32.5	2	40.1	45.4		43.6
West Virginia	286,285		282,879	277,445	273,845	143,446		145,605	137,177		122,257		50.1		51.5	49.4		44.6
Wisconsin	859,276		872,164	857,907	863,557	219,276		342,660	342,247		323,368		25.5		39.3	39.9		37.4
Wyoming	89,895		88,779	94,681	94,079	43,483		32,968	35,473		36,314		48.4		37.1	37.5		38.6

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 2015-16 were based on the reported percentages for 2014-15 applied to the 2015-16 enrollments.

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

5 For 2016-17, 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.

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 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, 2015-16, and 2016-17. (This table was prepared April 2019.)