Table 204.10.

Number and percentage of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, by state: Selected years, 2000-01 through 2017-18

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

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 and 2017-18 were based on the reported percentages for 2014-15 (the most recent year for which percentages were reported) applied to the 2016-17 and 2017-18 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 and 2017-18 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, and 2017-18. (This table was prepared February 2020.)