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PantryPath Research · School Hunger Atlas

School hunger in Arkansas

66% certified free/reduced

Across 1,046 public schools serving 480,444 students, 66.0% of Arkansas students are certified free or reduced-price. 228 schools (25% of NSLP participants) operate under the Community Eligibility Provision, and 16.2% of students are directly certified through SNAP, TANF, or Medicaid linkage.

480K

Students enrolled

1,046

Public schools (CCD)

228

CEP / Provision 2 schools

75

Counties in atlas

Arkansas by county

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Toggle between the school-food-access composite, free/reduced eligibility, CEP share, direct-certification rate, and SAIPE school-age poverty. Hover a county to see schools, enrollment, and the underlying certification mix.

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Lower
Higher

Arkansas at a glance

Free/reduced

66.0%

Share of enrollment

CEP share

25%

Of NSLP schools

Direct cert

16.2%

SNAP/TANF/Medicaid

NSLP schools

88%

Serve NSLP meals

5–17 in poverty

19.2%

Census SAIPE 2023

Access score

0.58

Composite 0–1

The access score is a 0–1 composite weighted 50% eligibility, 30% CEP share, 20% NSLP share — a visualization and ranking aid, not a direct measurement. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 75 in Arkansas.

Highest free/reduced share

Certified ≤185% FPL per enrollment

  1. 1 Monroe 107.4%
  2. 2 Desha 104.2%
  3. 3 Chicot 103.7%
  4. 4 Nevada 103.4%
  5. 5 Marion 103.2%

Highest CEP adoption

Of NSLP schools — min. 3 NSLP schools

  1. 1 Bradley 100%
  2. 2 Desha 100%
  3. 3 Marion 100%
  4. 4 Monroe 100%

Largest enrollment

Total students in CCD universe

  1. 1 Pulaski 61K
  2. 2 Benton 55K
  3. 3 Washington 41K
  4. 4 Sebastian 20K
  5. 5 Craighead 20K

Every county in Arkansas

All 75 counties with school counts, enrollment, certification mix, CEP adoption, and the SAIPE 5–17 poverty backdrop.

County Schools Enrollment Free/reduced CEP Direct cert 5–17 poverty Access
Arkansas 7 2,655 72.2% 29% 18.3% 22.9% 0.65
Ashley 8 3,184 66.7% 0% 22.5% 24.2% 0.53
Baxter 10 4,970 55.8% 20% 13.5% 18.3% 0.54
Benton 84 54,999 37.1% 4% 7.0% 8.2% 0.39
Boone 17 5,717 61.5% 0% 15.8% 17.4% 0.48
Bradley 6 1,848 100.0% 100% 19.1% 28.5% 1.00
Calhoun 2 506 74.1% 0% 15.4% 17.8% 0.57
Carroll 10 3,854 73.3% 0% 13.7% 19.2% 0.57
Chicot 7 1,153 103.7% 86% 37.5% 35.6% 0.98
Clark 6 2,361 70.0% 0% 22.3% 21.7% 0.55
Clay 7 2,132 74.7% 0% 17.1% 21.7% 0.57
Cleburne 10 3,317 58.6% 20% 13.0% 19.9% 0.55
Cleveland 4 1,271 54.0% 0% 11.6% 19.9% 0.47
Columbia 9 3,560 64.8% 0% 22.5% 26.4% 0.41
Conway 10 3,254 88.6% 50% 17.2% 20.8% 0.79
Craighead 34 19,653 69.5% 45% 20.2% 20.7% 0.68
Crawford 23 10,463 65.3% 25% 15.0% 18.2% 0.58
Crittenden 16 8,729 92.7% 69% 27.2% 28.5% 0.87
Cross 6 3,100 71.8% 33% 18.2% 25.3% 0.66
Dallas 2 724 99.2% — 18.9% 26.0% 0.50
Desha 7 1,993 104.2% 100% 29.5% 35.7% 1.02
Drew 7 2,804 78.8% 43% 21.5% 29.3% 0.72
Faulkner 36 18,759 54.0% 6% 13.0% 13.7% 0.48
Franklin 8 3,041 59.6% 14% 14.2% 22.1% 0.52
Fulton 6 1,674 79.1% 33% 22.9% 22.0% 0.70
Garland 27 14,351 73.7% 33% 18.6% 27.6% 0.65
Grant 6 3,529 40.6% 0% 11.5% 12.8% 0.40
Greene 15 7,378 72.1% 47% 17.4% 17.5% 0.70
Hempstead 9 3,045 90.3% 56% 22.6% 23.3% 0.82
Hot Spring 14 5,008 66.1% 0% 16.9% 19.4% 0.53
Howard 9 2,876 96.2% 50% 17.1% 21.9% 0.72
Independence 13 6,784 58.3% 0% 15.8% 17.5% 0.46
Izard 7 1,743 80.3% 0% 16.7% 23.6% 0.46
Jackson 5 2,046 91.9% 40% 32.3% 31.9% 0.78
Jefferson 19 7,937 80.7% 50% 23.7% 32.1% 0.74
Johnson 13 4,487 77.0% 0% 18.1% 17.9% 0.48
Lafayette 4 778 88.3% 25% 22.8% 31.3% 0.72
Lawrence 9 3,077 78.3% 22% 20.2% 22.7% 0.66
Lee 2 681 99.6% 100% 49.5% 46.4% 1.00
Lincoln 3 1,384 80.8% 0% 24.9% 25.0% 0.60
Little River 5 1,769 71.5% 0% 20.0% 24.8% 0.56
Logan 11 3,534 90.1% 60% 22.8% 23.8% 0.81
Lonoke 23 13,115 49.4% 9% 9.4% 11.7% 0.47
Madison 8 2,482 73.1% 0% 17.6% 20.3% 0.52
Marion 6 1,751 103.2% 100% 17.8% 23.6% 0.92
Miller 16 6,301 82.3% 47% 23.0% 24.9% 0.74
Mississippi 20 6,880 84.5% 56% 24.5% 28.2% 0.75
Monroe 4 797 107.4% 100% 28.5% 37.9% 1.04
Montgomery 5 1,138 80.0% 0% 18.4% 27.6% 0.60
Nevada 5 1,344 103.4% 100% 22.7% 29.4% 1.02
Newton 4 798 81.0% — 17.4% 26.7% 0.40
Ouachita 9 3,399 86.1% 0% 18.8% 24.6% 0.47
Perry 4 1,565 62.9% 0% 15.7% 19.4% 0.51
Phillips 9 2,698 100.7% 100% 48.0% 42.4% 1.00
Pike 7 2,015 88.4% 40% 21.5% 27.2% 0.71
Poinsett 13 3,716 75.7% 43% 25.0% 26.0% 0.61
Polk 10 3,084 73.6% 0% 17.1% 25.5% 0.51
Pope 22 10,124 65.0% 9% 13.6% 14.5% 0.55
Prairie 4 1,208 71.2% 0% 14.8% 22.0% 0.56
Pulaski 121 60,596 73.4% 38% 20.7% 23.1% 0.63
Randolph 6 2,522 71.9% 0% 16.1% 23.4% 0.49
Saline 30 19,346 44.6% 0% 8.8% 11.7% 0.42
Scott 7 2,115 76.4% 0% 17.8% 26.0% 0.58
Searcy 3 761 98.8% — 11.8% 27.0% 0.49
Sebastian 39 19,823 64.7% 8% 16.1% 16.3% 0.55
Sevier 7 3,012 77.1% 0% 14.0% 22.3% 0.59
Sharp 6 2,679 93.2% 50% 21.4% 23.0% 0.82
St. Francis 7 2,943 99.7% 100% 34.0% 42.5% 0.94
Stone 7 1,606 98.7% — 18.4% 26.3% 0.49
Union 14 6,717 82.3% 50% 19.5% 22.7% 0.76
Van Buren 7 2,101 88.1% 100% 18.2% 22.4% 0.88
Washington 69 40,595 58.0% 0% 8.1% 13.0% 0.48
White 26 12,426 59.3% 8% 15.6% 18.3% 0.52
Woodruff 4 901 81.1% 50% 24.9% 34.9% 0.76
Yell 11 3,758 79.6% 22% 15.6% 21.9% 0.63

Arkansas school meals guide

How free and reduced-price school lunch eligibility works, application steps, and what to do if your child's school is not in CEP.

School meals guide

Summer meals

When the school year ends, NSLP and CEP stop. The Summer Food Service Program and Summer EBT fill the gap for the 317,042 children who rely on school meals in Arkansas.

Summer meals guide

Families with children

SNAP, WIC, Head Start, and the full federal-program stack for households with kids — the assistance ecosystem around the school cafeteria.

Families guide

Arkansas child poverty

The sibling atlas — county-level child poverty across Arkansas. Free/reduced eligibility and child poverty track each other closely but not perfectly.

Arkansas child poverty atlas

Arkansas pantries

Verified food pantries, food banks, and meal programs across Arkansas — open weeknights, weekends, and through the summer gap.

Arkansas pantry directory

Methodology

How we aggregated NCES Common Core of Data school-level records to counties, proxied CEP from lunch_program == 2, and layered SAIPE school-age poverty — plus the access-score formula.

Full methodology