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In the depths of the Great Recession of 2008-09 and even after the economy began recovering, rougly 1 in 6 U.S. households received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamp) benefits. The figure has fallen, closer to 1 in 9 U.S. households, according to a Social Explorer analysis of 2016-20 American Community Survey data.
Despite the improved figures, two things stand out: First, the data is from the 2016-20 survey, so it barely reflects the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or inflation. And second, there’s been little improvement in many U.S. counties. Two counties with high concentrations of Natives had a majority of households getting help to put food on the table; Oglala Lakota County, S.D., and Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, both reported 55 percent of households receiving food stamps. They were followed by Presidio, Texas (43.5 percent); Bethel Census Area, Alaska (41.2 percent); and Buffalo County, S.D. (39.4 percent).
Find out how many households in your county are receiving nutrition assistance with Social Explorer’s easy-to-use report and mapping tools.
Households Receiving Food Stamps, 2020. Click here to explore further.
If you are interested in discovering the full data mapping and reporting capabilities of Social Explorer, feel free to request a quick demo or sign up for a free trial today.
