What does this measure?

The age-adjusted rate of adults experiencing food insecurity in the past 12 months. This is based on responses to a survey asking: How often in the past 12 months would you say you were worried or stressed about having enough money to buy nutritious meals?

Why is this important?

Food insecurity is one way to measure and assess the risk of hunger. Being food insecure is stressful, and food insecurity makes it difficult for children to learn and grow. Financially stressed families often need to choose between spending money on healthy food or other basic needs such as housing or health expenses.

How is the region performing?

Sullivan and Ulster counties had the highest food insecurity rates in the region in 2024, both at 33%, followed by Dutchess, Orange and Putnam, all at 28%. Columbia and Greene had the lowest rates, at 26% and 27%, respectively.

Food insecurity appears to be rising in the region. Greene County was the only county to experience a decrease since 2014, declining 6 points to 27%. Orange County only increased by 1 percentage point, but all other counties increased by between 5 to 8 percentage points, a 20-30% increase in rates. State rates increased by about 2 percentage points, or about 11%, during the decade.

Notes about the data

2018 rates were suppressed due to small sample size. Data are based on respondents answers to a telephone survey, so data are self-reported and therefore potentially subject to response bias, recall bias, social desirability bias, and other limitations associated with self-reporting.