16%

WHERE DO WE STAND?

An estimated 16% of Travis County residents faced food insecurity in 2023. That means they did not have access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life, according to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

In 2022, the national food insecurity rate saw its largest one-year increase since 2008, according to the USDA. Texas and Travis County mirrored this sharp increase. There are many systemic factors contributing to increased food insecurity, like increased cost of living, the sunsetting of pandemic-era benefits, and disruptions to the global food supply chain. Through Food Access Community Needs Assessments (CNAs), the Central Texas Food Bank has found that in recent years, the face of food insecurity has shifted to include more and more middle-income households.

A CLOSER LOOK

Travis County residents who are Black have higher rates of food insecurity (30%) than Latino residents (22%) or White residents (11%). In 2022 and 2023, the food insecurity rate for all racial & ethnic groups in Travis County increased. This mirrors national trends indicating that, while food insecurity rates among all racial and ethnic groups are rising, Black and Latino neighbors continue to experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity compared to White neighbors.

FOOD INSECURITY BY AGE

Children experience food insecurity at a higher rate than the general population. According to Feeding America, 16.4% of children in Travis County, or about 43,890 people under age 18, experienced food insecurity in 2023.

It is important to consider migration flows and poverty displacement within Central Texas when looking at these figures. For example, households that can no longer afford to live in Travis County may move to neighboring counties, which may make Travis County’s food insecurity rate appear to decrease while a neighboring county’s increases. This underlines the need for a regional approach to improve food security.

The Central Texas Food Access Dashboard includes a heatmap of food insecurity rates by census tract for our region. If the map does not appear at first, click “refresh” on your browser.

Refreshed: Annually. Dashboard last refreshed January 2024.