How food-secure or -insecure is your county? Interactive map shows rural areas are less secure

More than 51 percent of food-insecure counties are rural, even though rural counties make up 42.5 percent of U.S. counties, Niraj Chokshi reports for The Washington Post. A little more than 24 percent of micropolitan counties are food-insecure, even though those counties represent 20.4 percent of the counties, and 24.1 percent of metro counties are insecure, despite consisting of 37.1 percent of counties. (Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap map: The darker the color, the higher the food insecurity. An interactive version of the map is available by clicking here)

Through a series of graphics, the Post examines food insecurity in America, noting that the South, which is mostly rural, makes up 90 percent of highly insecure counties, "with the largest concentrations in the South Atlantic (Delaware, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia) and East South Central states (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee)."

It only takes an average of $2.26 per day—or $15.82 per week and $68.74 per month—to feed the 49 million Americans, including 16 million children, who are food-insecure, Chokshi writes. Despite those low numbers, many Americans continue to struggle with hunger. One reason is that from 2002 to 2012 the poverty rate increased by 3.3 percentage points, and the unemployment rate increased by 3.4 points, but the home ownership rate went down 2.4 points. (Feeding America graphic)

Race is also a factor. "Of all the counties where a majority of residents are African American, 93.1 percent belong to the highly insecure category," Chokshi writes. "In counties that are majority white, just 6.2 percent belong to that highly insecure group." (Read more)