Hunger in Illinois and the US

The Census provides statewide and national statistics on hunger in America.

Illinois and National Hunger Statistics

	Illinois	US
Total Population 2000 (census)	12,419,293
% of People in Poverty, 2001	12.1%	12.4%
Childhood Poverty Rate, 2001	15.8%	16.3%
Elderly Poverty Rate, 2001	7.0%	10.1%
Unemployment Rate, 2002	6.5%	5.8%
Food Insecurity Rate, 1996-98	9.6%	11.3%
Food Stamp: Number of Persons	984,370	19,093,789

• Between 2000 and 2001, poverty rose to 11.7% of the population, or 32.9 million people - up from 11.3% and 31.6 million
  
  
• The 2001 median household income in the U.S. was $42,228, representing a 2.2% decline in real income from 2000.
  
  
• In 2005, the average unemployment rate was 5.1%; in 2001, the rate was 4.8% · In 2004, the number of people who were food insecure - hungry or at risk of hunger - was 38.2 million, a rise from the 33.6 million figure for 2001.
  
  
• The number of food insecure households with children has risen by 10,000, to 6.18 million families.
  
  
• In 2005, 25.3 million people sought and received emergency hunger relief in the U.S.
  
  
• Demand for emergency food assistance rose by 9% from 1997 to 2001.
  
  
• Of the over 200 food banks in America, 86% reported an increase in requests for emergency food assistance in 2002.
  
  

Poverty in Eastern Illinois Counties

As per the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimates of people in poverty for the 14 counties served by Eastern Illinois Foodbank for 2000 are as listed below:

 

County	Number of People	Percent
Champaign	26,460	16.1
Clark	1,534	9.2
Clay	1,671	11.8
Coles	8,514	17.5
Crawford	2,114	11.2
Cumberland	1,056	9.5
Douglas	1,247	6.4
Edgar	1,989	10.5
Ford	956	7.0
Iroquois	2,669	8.7
Jasper	989	9.9
Moultrie	1,087	7.8
Piatt	799	5.0
Vermilion	10,704	13.3
Total	61,789	12.9%