2021 BRFSS Survey Results: North Carolina

Food Insecurity

“The food that we bought just didn’t last, and we didn’t have money to get more.”
In the last 12 months, was that…

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  Total
Respond.^		 Often True Sometimes True Never True
N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%)
TOTAL 4,090 94 2.6 2.0- 3.6 338 8.4 7.3- 9.7 3,658 88.9 87.5-90.2
GENDER
Male 1,851 32 1.2 0.8- 1.9 142 7.8 6.3- 9.5 1,677 91.0 89.2-92.5
Female 2,239 62 3.9 2.7- 5.5 196 9.0 7.5-10.9 1,981 87.1 84.8-89.1
RACE/ETHNICITY
Non-Hispanic White 2,594 36 1.9 1.2- 3.2 133 6.2 4.9- 7.7 2,425 91.9 90.1-93.4
Non-Hispanic Black 784 30 3.9 2.3- 6.4 103 12.1 9.6-15.1 651 84.0 80.5-87.0
Non-Hispanic Am Indian 127 *** *** *** 21 12.2 6.4-22.3 102 82.3 70.3-90.2
Non-Hispanic Multiracial 57 *** *** *** *** *** *** 50 93.0 85.1-96.9
Non-Hispanic Other 77 *** *** *** *** *** *** 67 85.3 72.6-92.6
Hispanic 390 17 3.3 2.0- 5.6 62 15.7 11.7-20.8 311 81.0 75.7-85.3
AGE
18-34 717 13 2.1 1.1- 4.1 67 9.7 7.4-12.7 637 88.2 85.0-90.8
35-44 630 15 2.8 1.3- 6.1 72 11.1 8.2-15.0 543 86.0 81.7-89.5
45-54 675 21 3.2 1.9- 5.4 67 8.3 6.3-10.8 587 88.5 85.5-91.0
55-64 720 27 2.8 1.8- 4.5 64 8.4 5.8-12.1 629 88.7 84.9-91.6
65-74 776 12 3.1 1.1- 8.3 47 7.0 4.6-10.6 717 89.9 85.0-93.3
75+ 490 *** *** *** 17 3.5 1.9- 6.5 469 95.4 92.1-97.4
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S. 375 21 7.5 3.9-13.9 73 19.0 14.0-25.2 281 73.5 66.4-79.5
H.S. or G.E.D. 950 31 3.1 1.9- 5.2 102 10.1 7.7-13.0 817 86.8 83.5-89.5
Some Post-H.S. 1,114 27 2.1 1.3- 3.4 107 8.6 6.9-10.6 980 89.3 87.1-91.2
College Graduate 1,635 14 0.6 0.3- 1.1 55 2.7 2.0- 3.7 1,566 96.7 95.6-97.5
FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY
Yes 1,310 70 5.9 4.1- 8.2 177 12.7 10.5-15.2 1,063 81.5 78.4-84.2
No 2,756 24 1.2 0.7- 2.2 160 6.6 5.4- 8.1 2,572 92.2 90.5-93.5
VETERAN STATUS
Veteran 509 *** *** *** 26 3.2 2.1- 5.0 475 95.2 92.9-96.8
Non-Veteran 3,574 86 2.8 2.0- 3.8 312 9.1 7.9-10.5 3,176 88.1 86.5-89.5
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Employed or Self-Employed 2,185 34 1.9 1.1- 3.0 163 7.6 6.3- 9.2 1,988 90.5 88.7-92.1
Unemployed 198 *** *** *** 33 14.6 9.9-21.1 157 82.3 75.5-87.6
Retired 1,147 *** *** *** 54 5.4 3.7- 7.8 1,083 92.6 89.3-94.9
Unable to Work 303 37 11.5 7.7-16.8 60 15.6 11.5-20.8 206 72.9 66.4-78.6
Other not in Labor Force 232 *** *** *** 26 12.8 7.5-21.1 202 85.8 77.6-91.4
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000 229 28 10.9 6.8-16.9 46 18.2 12.9-25.0 155 71.0 63.0-77.9
$15,000- 24,999 365 14 4.2 2.1- 8.0 72 17.8 13.5-23.2 279 78.0 72.2-82.9
$25,000- 34,999 427 14 5.3 2.3-11.7 63 15.7 11.4-21.3 350 79.0 72.3-84.4
$35,000- 49,999 428 *** *** *** 40 10.1 6.8-14.7 379 86.8 81.3-90.8
$50,000-74,999 522 *** *** *** 20 2.9 1.7- 4.9 498 95.5 92.1-97.5
$75,000-100,000 418 *** *** *** *** *** *** 407 97.1 93.6-98.7
$100,000-150,000 444 *** *** *** *** *** *** 442 99.6 98.3-99.9
$150,000+ 362 *** *** *** *** *** *** 360 99.4 97.0-99.9
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 895 22 2.7 1.6- 4.4 85 11.3 8.5-14.9 788 86.0 82.3-89.1
POVERTY LEVEL1
Less than 50% 91 15 14.9 7.9-26.3 *** *** *** *** *** ***
50% to 100% 325 22 6.0 3.5-10.3 66 15.9 11.8-21.0 237 78.1 72.1-83.1
101% to 150% 355 14 3.4 1.8- 6.4 65 21.4 15.9-28.2 276 75.2 68.4-80.9
151% to 200% 325 *** *** *** 44 12.1 8.4-17.2 273 83.5 76.2-88.9
More than 200% 2,084 13 1.2 0.6- 2.5 58 2.4 1.7- 3.4 2,013 96.4 95.0-97.4
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 895 22 2.7 1.6- 4.4 85 11.3 8.5-14.9 788 86.0 82.3-89.1
HOUSING
Own 2,788 39 2.0 1.3- 3.3 140 5.6 4.4- 7.0 2,609 92.4 90.7-93.8
Rent 993 35 3.4 2.3- 5.0 166 17.8 15.0-20.9 792 78.8 75.5-81.8
Other arrangement 273 18 4.8 2.4- 9.3 31 11.6 7.1-18.3 224 83.6 76.6-88.9
RURAL-URBAN RESIDENT2
Urban 1,193 19 1.7 0.9- 3.4 84 7.2 5.6- 9.1 1,090 91.1 88.8-93.0
Regional City or Suburban County 1,093 27 3.3 2.1- 5.4 74 7.0 5.3- 9.3 992 89.6 86.9-91.8
Rural 1,804 48 2.9 1.8- 4.6 180 10.6 8.6-12.9 1,576 86.6 83.9-88.9
NC DEPT OF COMMERCE COUNTY TIER3
Most Distressed Counties (Tier 1) 1,170 32 2.2 1.4- 3.4 134 12.5 9.7-16.0 1,004 85.3 81.8-88.2
Less Distressed Counties (Tier 2) 1,661 40 3.5 2.2- 5.4 127 8.0 6.5- 9.8 1,494 88.6 86.2-90.6
Least Distressed Counties (Tier 3) 1,259 22 2.0 1.1- 3.5 77 6.2 4.8- 8.1 1,160 91.7 89.6-93.5
CDC SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX4
1st Quartile - Least Vulnerable 1,218 23 2.6 1.3- 5.2 73 5.8 4.4- 7.7 1,122 91.5 88.9-93.6
2nd Quartile 1,029 25 3.1 1.8- 5.0 68 7.2 5.5- 9.5 936 89.7 87.0-91.9
3rd Quartile 1,187 27 2.2 1.4- 3.4 106 11.1 8.6-14.3 1,054 86.7 83.5-89.4
4th Quartile - Most Vulnerable 656 19 2.5 1.4- 4.5 91 12.7 9.7-16.4 546 84.8 80.8-88.1

Back to Food Insecurity.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to changes in the weighting methodology and other factors, results from 2021 are NOT comparable to 2010
and earlier years.

***The estimate was suppressed because it did not meet statistical reliability standards. See BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for more details.

1Based on 2021 U.S Census Bureau poverty threshold incomes. Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

2Based on U.S Census Bureau population estimates at the county level. Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

3NC Dept. of Commerce County Tier Classification, based on respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

4Quartile of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index
(https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html) for respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

^Use caution in interpreting cell sizes less than 50, % = Percentage, C.I.(95%) = Confidence Interval (at 95 percent probability level).
Percentages are weighted to population characteristics and therefore cannot be calculated exactly from the numbers in this table.

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This page was generated on 19AUG22.

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