Table 204.10.

Number and percentage of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, by state: Selected years, 2000-01 through 2019-20

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	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2000-01		2010-11	2017-18		2018-19		2019-20		2000-01		2010-11	2017-18		2018-19		2019-20
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	50,044,716	50,138,019	49,922,161	17,839,867	1	23,544,479	26,341,970	1	26,206,442	1	26,000,645	1	38.3	1	48.1	52.6	1	52.3	1	52.1	1
Alabama	728,351		730,427	742,437	738,485	744,235	335,143		402,386	415,423		407,482		409,431		46.0		55.1	56.0		55.2		55.0
Alaska	105,333		132,104	132,820	130,905	131,981	32,468		50,701	72,080		62,808		56,618		30.8		38.4	54.3		48.0		42.9
Arizona	877,696	2	1,067,210	977,571	994,358	1,050,412	274,277	2	482,044	538,290		534,074		537,767		31.2	2	45.2	55.1		53.7		51.2
Arkansas	449,959		482,114	495,773	491,696	495,797	205,058		291,608	315,203	3	313,991		324,538		45.6		60.5	63.6	3	63.9		65.5
California	6,050,753		6,169,427	6,195,446	6,171,073	6,146,641	2,820,611		3,335,885	3,726,495		3,666,552		3,648,170		46.6		54.1	60.1		59.4		59.4
Colorado	724,349		842,864	910,050	911,339	912,936	195,148		336,426	380,318		371,615		371,748		26.9		39.9	41.8		40.8		40.7
Connecticut	562,179	2	552,919	519,710	514,690	510,658	143,030	2	190,554	188,482		214,502		218,235		25.4	2	34.5	36.3		41.7		42.7
Delaware	114,676		128,342	136,041	138,397	139,926	37,766		61,564	47,580	4	43,439	4	39,635	4	32.9		48.0	35.0	4	31.4	4	28.3	4
District of Columbia	68,380		71,263	86,360	87,686	88,621	47,839		52,027	65,961	4,5	66,974	4,5	67,688	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	2,832,766	2,846,142	2,858,020	1,079,009		1,479,519	1,622,871		1,569,588		1,540,439		44.3		56.0	57.3		55.1		53.9
Georgia	1,444,937		1,676,419	1,768,562	1,767,145	1,769,559	624,511		961,954	1,076,613		1,065,941		1,056,179		43.2		57.4	60.9		60.3		59.7
Hawaii	184,357		179,601	180,837	181,278	181,088	80,657		84,106	85,219		83,198		82,399		43.8		46.8	47.1		45.9		45.5
Idaho	244,755		275,815	301,118	308,816	310,714	85,824		124,104	132,442		119,026		115,409		35.1		45.0	44.0		38.5		37.1
Illinois	2,048,792	2	1,973,401	1,992,111	1,956,231	1,939,414	759,973	2	921,471	983,855		956,769		938,330		37.1	2	46.7	49.4		48.9		48.4
Indiana	977,219		1,038,817	1,053,841	1,055,086	1,051,073	285,267		485,728	525,526		515,796		508,312		29.2		46.8	49.9		48.9		48.4
Iowa	492,021		484,856	502,877	506,308	508,605	131,553		188,486	201,627		215,291		213,375		26.7		38.9	40.1		42.5		42.0
Kansas	462,594		479,953	490,629	491,423	491,291	154,693		228,852	233,302		229,930		228,893		33.4		47.7	47.6		46.8		46.6
Kentucky	626,723		673,128	680,860	677,718	691,798	298,334		380,773	406,314		384,859		385,469		47.6		56.6	59.7		56.8		55.7
Louisiana	741,162		695,772	715,096	710,797	710,409	433,068		460,546	387,083		379,959		403,194		58.4		66.2	54.1		53.5		56.8
Maine	198,532		183,477	175,304	175,230	175,101	60,162		78,915	78,522		77,265		73,593		30.3		43.0	44.8		44.1		42.0
Maryland	852,911		852,202	893,679	896,811	909,376	255,872		341,557	415,367		415,502		381,913		30.0		40.1	46.5		46.3		42.0
Massachusetts	979,590		955,301	953,645	951,400	944,867	237,871		326,849	380,725	4,6	379,828	4,6	309,594	4	24.3		34.2	39.9	4,6	39.9	4,6	32.8	4
Michigan	1,703,260		1,551,861	1,471,209	1,456,140	1,447,278	504,044		719,800	740,066		728,205		730,727		29.6		46.4	50.3		50.0		50.5
Minnesota	854,154		837,930	884,397	888,786	890,824	218,867		306,136	328,701		323,126		318,681		25.6		36.5	37.2		36.4		35.8
Mississippi	497,421		489,462	478,124	471,298	465,990	319,670		345,734	356,365		348,848		348,462		64.3		70.6	74.5		74.0		74.8
Missouri	912,247		902,375	910,283	908,255	904,881	315,608		406,358	478,503		456,240		452,727		34.6		45.0	52.6		50.2		50.0
Montana	154,438		140,497	146,550	147,375	148,266	47,415		57,836	64,961		57,489		59,559		30.7		41.2	44.3		39.0		40.2
Nebraska	286,138		298,276	323,728	326,081	329,938	87,045		127,114	148,540		147,328		150,419		30.4		42.6	45.9		45.2		45.6
Nevada	282,621		436,840	481,005	492,353	493,988	92,978		219,904	282,776		301,642		319,258		32.9		50.3	58.8		61.3		64.6
New Hampshire	206,919		194,001	178,306	177,355	175,789	31,212		48,904	47,169		47,848		43,493		15.1		25.2	26.5		27.0		24.7
New Jersey	1,312,983		1,356,882	1,370,584	1,365,233	1,372,553	357,728		444,735	519,524		513,638		523,960		27.2		32.8	37.9		37.6		38.2
New Mexico	320,303		335,810	333,879	333,526	329,903	174,939		227,077	245,797		241,161		237,085		54.6		67.6	73.6		72.3		71.9
New York	2,859,927		2,722,761	2,697,327	2,673,904	2,534,493	1,236,945		1,315,564	1,477,753		1,440,275		1,420,866		43.3		48.3	54.8		53.9		56.1
North Carolina	1,194,371		1,487,699	1,553,494	1,552,472	1,480,802	470,316		747,978	868,117		869,659		856,466		39.4		50.3	55.9		56.0		57.8
North Dakota	109,201		94,273	109,688	111,651	114,006	31,840		29,929	33,001		33,828		34,486		29.2		31.7	30.1		30.3		30.2
Ohio	1,745,237		1,747,851	1,701,472	1,692,789	1,688,420	494,829		745,121	782,651		767,046		768,403		28.4		42.6	46.0		45.3		45.5
Oklahoma	623,110		659,376	694,932	698,683	702,716	300,179		398,917	432,732		421,047		415,558		48.2		60.5	62.3		60.3		59.1
Oregon	535,617		553,468	553,257	551,871	549,400	186,203		280,174	272,748		270,083		262,911		34.8		50.6	49.3		48.9		47.9
Pennsylvania	1,798,977		1,742,608	1,601,823	1,709,334	1,543,296	510,121		686,641	794,648		869,871		782,049		28.4		39.4	49.6		50.9		50.7
Rhode Island	157,347		142,575	141,448	141,742	141,792	52,209		61,127	66,156		67,185		67,574		33.2		42.9	46.8		47.4		47.7
South Carolina	677,411		722,203	777,254	780,529	786,764	320,254		395,033	514,156		483,606		497,221		47.3		54.7	66.2		62.0		63.2
South Dakota	128,598		125,883	137,251	138,402	139,397	37,857		46,718	51,412		51,080		50,582		29.4		37.1	37.5		36.9		36.3
Tennessee	909,161	2	987,078	994,568	1,006,267	1,014,718	436,298	2	542,953	584,910	4,5	591,790	4,5	596,760	5	48.0	2	55.0	58.8	4,5	58.8	4,5	58.8	5
Texas	4,059,353		4,916,401	5,400,720	5,430,433	5,494,622	1,823,029		2,471,212	3,169,088		3,288,771		3,310,103		44.9		50.3	58.7		60.6		60.2
Utah	470,265		585,552	666,841	674,355	684,048	135,428		223,943	227,388		222,152		223,431		28.8		38.2	34.1		32.9		32.7
Vermont	102,049		85,144	84,334	83,642	83,230	23,986		31,339	32,171		30,445		29,220		23.5		36.8	38.1		36.4		35.1
Virginia	1,067,710		1,250,206	1,278,044	1,282,643	1,289,845	320,233		458,879	560,281		569,998		581,521		30.0		36.7	43.8		44.4		45.1
Washington	1,004,770	2	1,043,466	1,110,163	1,118,916	1,141,028	326,295	2	418,065	477,543		481,076		501,282		32.5	2	40.1	43.0		43.0		43.9
West Virginia	286,285		282,879	272,253	267,968	263,475	143,446		145,605	151,490		135,107		134,897		50.1		51.5	55.6		50.4		51.2
Wisconsin	859,276		872,164	860,067	858,766	853,696	219,276		342,660	319,045		339,164		339,283		25.5		39.3	37.1		39.5		39.7
Wyoming	89,895		88,779	94,182	94,236	94,481	43,483		32,968	34,980		34,344		32,731		48.4		37.1	37.1		36.4		34.6

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 2017-18 were based on the reported percentages for 2015-16 (the most recent year for which percentages were reported) applied to the 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 2017-18 through 2019-20 were based on the reported percentages for 2015-16 (the most recent year for which percentages were reported) applied to the 2017-18 through 2019-20 enrollments.

6 Imputation for survey nonresponse. State-level imputations for 2017-18 and 2018-19 were based on the reported percentages for 2014-15 (the most recent year for which percentages were reported) applied to the 2017-18 and 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 2017-18 through 2019-20 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, 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20. (This table was prepared November 2021.)