Resource Library

Explore the impact of COVID-19 on rural communities, focusing on hunger, poverty, and health.

Households in rural counties (14.4%) participate in SNAP more often than those located in small town counties (13.8%) and metropolitan counties (11.3%), according to FRAC analysis. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s first line of defense against hunger and a key weapon for assisting low-income Americans and low-income communities.

This interactive map provides household food insecurity rates, by state, on average over 2016-2018. Scroll over a state to view the percent of households struggling with food insecurity or very low food security. States with at least 33% of their population living in rural areas are indicated with a triangle pattern.

This interactive map, produced in collaboration with the AARP Foundation, shows the share of all households with seniors (60+) that participate in SNAP in each county. Each county within a state is grouped into one of three categories: Metro, Small Town, and Rural.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides low-income pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children up to 5 years old with nutritious foods, nutrition education, and improved access to health care. Along with other social safety net programs, WIC is a buffer against the harmful impacts of economic hardship and is responsive to increased need during economic downturns in rural communities.

The Afterschool Nutrition Programs fill the hunger gap that exists after school for millions of low-income children in rural communities. The programs, which include the Child and Adult Care Afterschool Meal Program and the National School Lunch Program Afterschool Snack Program, provide federal funding to afterschool programs operating in low-income areas to serve meals and snacks to children 18 and under after school, on weekends, and during school holidays.

The Summer Nutrition Programs can fill the hunger gap that exists during summer break for millions of low-income children in rural communities. Pairing summer meals with summer programs addresses the loss in learning that too many low-income children experience over the summer months.

The School Breakfast Program ensures 12.1 million low-income students across the country start their school day ready to learn. School breakfast is particularly important for low-income students in rural communities who are more likely than their peers in metropolitan areas to live in food-insecure households, and, who often face additional barriers to accessing the program.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s first line of defense against hunger, is critically important for rural America. In addition to improving the food security, health, and well-being of participating families, federal SNAP dollars stimulate rural economies through assistance that goes directly to struggling families to purchase food.

No community in America is immune to hunger, including rural areas. Paradoxically, in rural areas that grow most of our nation’s food, households face considerably deeper struggles with hunger than those in metropolitan areas. Millions of working families, veterans, people with disabilities, seniors, and children in rural communities cannot always afford and access enough food for an active, healthy life.

This graphic shows household participation rates for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) in rural areas by county in each state.