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PantryPath Research · School Hunger Atlas

School hunger in Nebraska

31% certified free/reduced

Across 1,015 public schools serving 327,100 students, 31.4% of Nebraska students are certified free or reduced-price. 167 schools (18% of NSLP participants) operate under the Community Eligibility Provision, and 18.6% of students are directly certified through SNAP, TANF, or Medicaid linkage.

327K

Students enrolled

1,015

Public schools (CCD)

167

CEP / Provision 2 schools

93

Counties in atlas

Nebraska 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

Nebraska at a glance

Free/reduced

31.4%

Share of enrollment

CEP share

18%

Of NSLP schools

Direct cert

18.6%

SNAP/TANF/Medicaid

NSLP schools

90%

Serve NSLP meals

5–17 in poverty

10.3%

Census SAIPE 2023

Access score

0.39

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 93 in Nebraska.

Highest free/reduced share

Certified ≤185% FPL per enrollment

  1. 1 Dakota 67.5%
  2. 2 Dawson 64.6%
  3. 3 Dodge 62.1%
  4. 4 Loup 61.8%
  5. 5 Keya Paha 56.7%

Highest CEP adoption

Of NSLP schools — min. 3 NSLP schools

  1. 1 Banner 100%
  2. 2 Morrill 100%
  3. 3 Franklin 75%
  4. 4 Thurston 70%

Largest enrollment

Total students in CCD universe

  1. 1 Douglas 97K
  2. 2 Lancaster 47K
  3. 3 Sarpy 33K
  4. 4 Hall 12K
  5. 5 Buffalo 8K

Every county in Nebraska

All 93 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
Adams 17 5,137 48.6% 0% 0.0% 12.8% 0.38
Antelope 7 971 45.2% 0% 0.0% 12.2% 0.37
Arthur 2 114 0.0% — 0.0% 18.5% 0.00
Banner 3 140 0.0% 100% 93.6% 15.3% 0.50
Blaine 1 37 51.3% 0% 0.0% 28.1% 0.46
Boone 7 988 32.2% 29% 13.4% 10.5% 0.45
Box Butte 7 1,743 53.2% 0% 0.0% 13.8% 0.44
Boyd 4 322 54.4% — 0.0% 18.6% 0.27
Brown 4 389 47.0% 0% 0.0% 14.6% 0.44
Buffalo 27 8,430 40.5% 0% 0.0% 8.6% 0.39
Burt 6 1,228 41.2% 0% 0.0% 11.3% 0.41
Butler 6 1,004 35.6% 0% 0.0% 9.3% 0.38
Cass 15 3,956 31.1% 0% 0.0% 7.7% 0.34
Cedar 10 1,210 39.1% 0% 0.0% 8.9% 0.40
Chase 4 557 48.6% 0% 0.0% 11.6% 0.44
Cherry 8 768 47.4% 0% 0.0% 16.0% 0.39
Cheyenne 9 1,450 46.4% 0% 0.0% 15.9% 0.43
Clay 8 1,093 34.4% 43% 18.1% 9.9% 0.48
Colfax 14 2,643 54.9% 0% 0.0% 11.5% 0.45
Cuming 7 1,469 43.6% 29% 13.5% 10.1% 0.50
Custer 15 1,872 37.1% 13% 7.8% 12.7% 0.43
Dakota 11 4,365 67.5% 9% 4.5% 19.5% 0.56
Dawes 7 1,176 41.9% 0% 0.0% 15.7% 0.38
Dawson 18 5,513 64.6% 0% 0.0% 13.4% 0.52
Deuel 5 415 56.4% 0% 0.0% 17.5% 0.48
Dixon 5 566 29.9% 0% 0.0% 9.1% 0.35
Dodge 20 6,844 62.1% 0% 0.0% 10.2% 0.49
Douglas 174 96,667 13.1% 53% 44.1% 11.2% 0.40
Dundy 2 273 0.0% 100% 69.6% 19.1% 0.50
Fillmore 8 936 30.2% 0% 0.0% 10.2% 0.28
Franklin 4 343 5.8% 75% 56.6% 15.8% 0.45
Frontier 6 569 45.9% 0% 0.0% 16.9% 0.43
Furnas 7 1,005 50.5% 0% 0.0% 16.3% 0.45
Gage 12 3,093 43.0% 20% 8.2% 10.5% 0.44
Garden 2 232 34.1% 0% 0.0% 23.6% 0.37
Garfield 2 292 38.0% 0% 0.0% 13.4% 0.39
Gosper 2 184 22.8% 0% 0.0% 13.0% 0.31
Grant 2 140 41.4% 0% 0.0% 14.9% 0.41
Greeley 5 438 54.3% 0% 0.0% 13.0% 0.47
Hall 27 12,240 42.6% 39% 22.3% 12.4% 0.50
Hamilton 8 1,659 35.9% 0% 0.0% 9.0% 0.35
Harlan 2 382 41.1% 0% 0.0% 11.5% 0.41
Hayes 2 148 50.7% 0% 0.0% 18.9% 0.45
Hitchcock 3 391 54.7% 0% 0.0% 18.2% 0.47
Holt 9 1,584 48.5% 0% 0.0% 14.0% 0.44
Hooker 3 165 48.5% 0% 0.0% 12.2% 0.44
Howard 7 1,429 31.4% 40% 5.6% 11.6% 0.42
Jefferson 8 1,690 46.4% 0% 0.0% 12.8% 0.43
Johnson 6 745 49.0% 0% 0.0% 12.1% 0.45
Kearney 7 1,306 35.0% 0% 0.0% 9.0% 0.38
Keith 4 1,022 52.8% 0% 0.0% 15.8% 0.46
Keya Paha 2 90 56.7% 0% 0.0% 19.1% 0.48
Kimball 3 476 47.9% 0% 0.0% 14.3% 0.44
Knox 15 1,774 26.7% 38% 24.5% 17.5% 0.42
Lancaster 80 47,290 39.1% 13% 7.5% 8.3% 0.41
Lincoln 22 5,185 30.8% 27% 21.0% 12.8% 0.44
Logan 2 165 21.2% 0% 0.0% 10.6% 0.31
Loup 2 89 61.8% 0% 0.0% 25.9% 0.51
Madison 20 6,141 50.9% 0% 0.0% 10.1% 0.44
McPherson 2 52 0.0% — 0.0% 19.2% 0.00
Merrick 7 1,241 43.9% 0% 0.0% 10.2% 0.39
Morrill 5 876 1.3% 100% 66.9% 18.2% 0.47
Nance 4 701 38.9% 0% 0.0% 12.8% 0.39
Nemaha 6 1,339 37.3% 0% 0.0% 12.4% 0.35
Nuckolls 6 662 14.1% 60% 41.4% 15.1% 0.42
Otoe 9 2,520 39.6% 0% 0.0% 8.6% 0.38
Pawnee 4 459 42.5% 0% 0.0% 19.7% 0.41
Perkins 2 415 32.5% 0% 0.0% 10.9% 0.36
Phelps 8 1,531 42.6% 0% 0.0% 10.1% 0.41
Pierce 6 1,213 30.8% 0% 0.0% 9.8% 0.35
Platte 16 5,428 50.8% 0% 0.0% 7.3% 0.43
Polk 10 1,130 34.4% 0% 0.0% 8.1% 0.37
Red Willow 6 1,701 44.5% 0% 0.0% 12.2% 0.42
Richardson 7 1,200 44.0% 0% 0.0% 12.0% 0.42
Rock 2 226 33.2% 0% 0.0% 19.6% 0.37
Saline 12 3,359 52.6% 0% 0.0% 11.4% 0.43
Sarpy 71 33,211 21.6% 18% 15.5% 4.7% 0.32
Saunders 16 3,616 27.0% 0% 0.0% 6.6% 0.34
Scotts Bluff 26 6,518 50.2% 28% 11.7% 17.1% 0.47
Seward 8 2,771 26.3% 0% 0.0% 6.5% 0.33
Sheridan 8 740 12.7% 50% 49.3% 20.7% 0.41
Sherman 4 459 51.6% 0% 0.0% 14.6% 0.46
Sioux 4 88 15.9% 0% 0.0% 21.5% 0.28
Stanton 3 594 49.2% 0% 0.0% 8.2% 0.45
Thayer 8 847 37.9% 0% 0.0% 11.7% 0.39
Thomas 3 174 19.0% 67% 51.7% 22.5% 0.49
Thurston 11 2,168 11.3% 70% 73.9% 24.1% 0.45
Valley 4 694 44.8% 0% 0.0% 15.6% 0.42
Washington 9 3,769 24.6% 0% 0.0% 5.7% 0.32
Wayne 8 1,852 45.7% 0% 0.0% 9.1% 0.43
Webster 5 715 39.0% 0% 0.0% 13.9% 0.40
Wheeler 2 128 19.5% 0% 0.0% 20.4% 0.30
York 8 2,160 40.9% 0% 0.0% 8.8% 0.38

Nebraska 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 102,737 children who rely on school meals in Nebraska.

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

Nebraska child poverty

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

Nebraska child poverty atlas

Nebraska pantries

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

Nebraska 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