We use data from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS), fielded in December 2025, to examine household food insecurity among adults ages 18 and older by race and ethnicity. We also examine trends in food insecurity among working-age adults (ages 18 to 64) by race and ethnicity from 2019 to 2025.
We find that Black and Hispanic adults were more than twice as likely as white adults to report food insecurity in 2025, and that wide racial and ethnic disparities have persisted over time.
Why This Matters
Black and Hispanic households have long experienced food insecurity at higher rates than their white counterparts. Looming cuts to SNAP and other safety net programs passed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could further exacerbate these disparities.
Key Takeaways
- More than 1 in 3 Black (36.5 percent) and Hispanic (37.1 percent) adults ages 18 and older reported household food insecurity in the last 12 months. By comparison, 18.1 percent of white adults and 13.1 percent of Asian adults reported food insecurity.
- Among working-age adults, Black (39.0 percent) and Hispanic adults (38.8 percent) were nearly twice as likely as white adults (21.8 percent) to report food insecurity.
Source: Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, December 2025.
Notes: Among adults in the last 12 months. Adults who are white, Black, or Asian refer to those who are not Hispanic. Estimates for Asian adults ages 65 and older are suppressed due to insufficient sample size. Estimates are also not shown for adults of additional races, including those who are American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, another race, or more than one race. Most adults in this group identified as having more than one race, and sample size limitations preclude us from disaggregating additional racial groups.
*/**/*** Estimates differ significantly from reference group (^white adults) at the 0.10/0.05/0.01 level, using two-tailed tests.
- Though older adults (ages 65 and older) reported lower rates of food insecurity across all racial and ethnic groups compared with working-age adults, we found significant disparities among older adults between racial and ethnic subgroups. Older Black (25.4 percent) and Hispanic (25.7 percent) adults were nearly three times as likely as older white adults (8.9 percent) to report food insecurity in 2025. Higher levels of food insecurity among older adults of color reflect compounding effects of structural economic and health inequities that limit access to adequate and healthy foods.
- Since 2021, rates of food insecurity among working-age adults have increased across most racial and ethnic groups. Between 2021 and 2025, rates of household food insecurity have increased by at least 30 percent for white (21.8 percent, up from 15.6 percent), Black (39.0 percent, up from 29.2 percent), and Hispanic (38.8 percent, up from 29.1 percent) working-age adults.
How We Did It
This analysis draws on data from the December 2025 round of the WBNS, a nationally representative, annual survey of adults that monitors individual and family well-being in the context of a changing safety net. More than 10,000 adults (ages 18 and older) participated.
