Sunday, July 25, 2021

Insights, Made Fresh Daily

Economic Needs

48% of U.S. public school students qualify for free or reduced price lunch

David White | Sunday, July 25, 2021

This bar graph shows the rate of economic need of public schools in each state. In public school reporting, “economic need” is defined by the percentage of students who qualify to receive a free or reduced price school lunch. The U.S. national average for economic need in public schools is 48%. That figure is alarmingly high but what is more alarming is the fact that 19 states have economic need higher than 48%, the highest being Mississippi where 74% of all public school students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.

The underlying data was released by the U.S. Department of Education.