The statistics on this page come from a myriad of sources from Alabama Possible, Feeding America, the United States Department of Labor and Department of Agriculture, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” They also categorize food security and food insecurity into four levels: high food security, marginal food security, low food security, and very low food security. The Department of Health & Human Services defines the poverty guidelines to determine who is eligible for federal subsidies and aid. The current poverty threshold (commonly referred to as the poverty line) for a family of four is $24,600.

Poverty and Hunger in West Alabama

Bibb County

  • Population: 22,643
  • Living under the poverty line: 22.2%
  • Food insecure: 16.1% (25% children)

Fayette County

  • Population:16,546
  • Living under the poverty line: 20.4%
  • Food insecure: 16.1% (25.8% of children)

Greene County

  • Population: 8,422
  • Living under the poverty line: 37.7%
  • Food insecure: 31.8% (34.7% of children)

Hale County

  • Population: 14,952
  • Living under the poverty line: 28.5%
  • Food insecure: 23.6% (25.8% of children)

Lamar County

  • Population: 13,018
  • Living under the poverty line: 24.7%
  • Food insecure: 16.9% (28.9% of children)

Marion County

  • Population: 29,998
  • Living under the poverty line: 19.8%
  • Food insecure: 15.0% (25.8% of children)

Pickens County

  • Population: 20,324
  • Living under the poverty line: 24.3%
  • Food insecure: 21.2% (25.5% of children)

Sumter County

  • Population: 13,040
  • Living under the poverty line: 33.2%
  • Food insecure: 30.2% (30.3% of children)

Tuscaloosa County

  • Population: 206,102
  • Living under the poverty line: 20.0%
  • Food insecure: 17.9% (22.2% of children)

Poverty & Hunger in Alabama

  • Alabama is the fourth poorest state in the U.S., and 19.2 percent of Alabamians live below the federal poverty line, a noticeably larger percentage than the national average of 15.5 percent (Alabama Possible, 2016)
  • 911,440 Alabamians live in poverty including 292,330 children (Feeding America, 2015)
  • 19 of Alabama’s 67 counties have a poverty rate higher than 25 percent (Alabama Possible, 2016)
  • 18.8% of Alabamians are food insecure (Alabama Possible, 2016)
  • 4.5% of Alabamians are unemployed (Alabama Department of Labor, 2017)
  • 889,380 persons on average receive food stamps per month (United States Department of Agriculture, 2015)
  • Average monthly food stamp benefit per person is $90.50

Poverty & Hunger in America

  • 43.1 million officially live under the poverty line (Feeding America, 2015)
  • 42.2 million Americans live in food-insecure households, including 13.1 million children (Feeding America, 2015)
  • 12.3% (15.6 million) of U.S. households were food insecure (USDA, Economic Research Service, 2016)
  • 5.4 million seniors (over age 60), or 9% of all seniors, are estimated to be food insecure (Feeding America, 2014)
  • 43.6 million Americans use “food stamps” (SNAP- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, 2016)

The organization Alabama Possible (AP) has “been working to change the way people think and talk about poverty in Alabama since 1993.” In 2016, AP created a fact sheet with information on poverty and food insecurity in the State of Alabama.