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BCPS Snapshot

Major increase in student poverty in Baltimore County Public Schools: 2023

There is a 2023 presentation titled “The Effects of Poverty and Food Insecurity on Education in Baltimore County & the Mission of the Student Support Network“, by Dr. Laurie Taylor-Mitchell, Founder, SSN and Tam Lynne Kelley, LMSW, Advocacy Committee Chair. To view the presentation, click here

Click here to see the statistics for every BCPS school and click on “Public Detail by Agency” to download the file to view the data for all schools.

Read more about Child Nutrition Programs Income Eligibility Guidelines at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service website.

According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, in Baltimore County the income needed for basic expenses for a family of four people, before taxes, is now $111,953 a year. See the full chart and learn more by visiting the MIT Living Wage Calculator website.

Even though all BCPS students are eligible to receive free school meals since the 2023-2024 school year, student eligibility for free meals remains an essential indicator of poverty which guides our work.

According to a recent 2024 Johns Hopkins University study, 1 in 3 Baltimore County families are food insecure.  

According to the most recent data from the State of Maryland (2025-2026)

• Over 80,000 (74%) BCPS students rely on free meals at school, but federal funds used to support school lunches are at risk of funding cuts
• 85% of students in Network partner schools rely on free meals at school, but federal funds used to support school lunches are at risk of funding cuts
• More than 50,000 (47%) BCPS students qualify for free meals because they are enrolled in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medicaid, or another means tested program
• Over 30,000 (29%) BCPS students receive SNAP because their families are at or below 130% of the poverty level. Many of these families could lose access to SNAP because of the OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act).

For the 29% of students who depend on SNAP:

• The average individual benefit is about $6.00 a day
• The average cost of one meal in Baltimore County is $3.80

https://www.kff.org/state-health-policy-data/state-indicator/avg-monthly-snap-benefits/?activeTab=map&currentTimeframe=0&selectedDistributions=average-monthly-snap-benefits-per-participant&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D

Food insecurity places a major stress on thousands of parents/guardians in Baltimore County (Baltimore Area Survey)

“Poor diet causes more deaths in the US than any other behavioral risk factor, accounting for nearly 20% of total mortality³ and more than $1 trillion annually in health care spending and lost productivity” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2831310#, p. 1.

Homelessness: As of 12/31/2023, school staff identified 1989 students as experiencing homelessness.

Read the BCPS document on numbers of students identified as homeless by school.

Looking to educate yourself on the issue of Food Insecurity?

Data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that 30% of all high school students in Baltimore County experienced food insecurity – higher than the state average.  With the FARMS rate now up to 74.11% of all BCPS students (an increase from 43.7% of all students in 2018), hunger and food insecurity levels, and the physical and health disparities associated with them as indicated in sections of the report, are higher than ever now.

2024 Food Insecurity Report

Read a Towson University report on the local economic benefits to increasing funding for food assistance. 

Every picture is worth a thousand words!

The map at left illustrates Baltimore County poverty rates, the concentration of children living in poverty across the county, and the locations of Network schools. Click on the map to enlarge it.

Student Poverty By Government District 2023-2024

Poverty in Baltimore County is widespread and increasing, and all legislative districts now have concentrations of poverty. To advocate effectively for improving the lives and education of Baltimore County students, it is important to understand where poverty exists in various legislative districts. Schools also may have large catchment areas overlapping multiple districts. These maps show the locations of schools so that advocates may contact elected officials when schools of concern are located within their districts. The heat map “plots” are based on concentrations of low-income families qualifying for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and for free meals in school. For example, to be eligible for SNAP under the federal guidelines, the annual income for a family of four cannot exceed $40,560. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, the income needed for basic expenses for a family of four (2 working adults, 2 children) in Baltimore County is $111,953. These Students and their families live in extreme poverty. The maps are divided by councilmanic, state, and congressional districts, and by elementary, middle, and high schools. 

• • Go to https://vote.baltimorecountymd.gov/Address.aspx?pageid=2
  • Enter your address (a prompt will usually appear below so you may not have to type it all in)
  • Hit “Submit”
  • Your Councilmanic, State, and Congressional Districts, Election District, and Election Precinct, will appear below

Credit for the research and creation of the following “heat maps” goes to Fergal Mullaly, a Student Support Network volunteer. 

Follow this link and click councilmanic maps for a full-size view. 

For all other maps, click on the links as indicate..

Dramatic Increases in Levels of Need

Poverty levels have been rising for many years in Baltimore County.  For example, in 2006, 14% of all students at Loch Raven High School qualified for FARMS.  Now, 80% of all students at this school qualify for FARMS.

There are only 15 public schools left in Baltimore County (169 schools offering meal service) where the percentage of students eligible for FARMS is less than 30%.

In academic year 2023-24, all schools within the Network experienced increases in the percentages of students qualifying for Free/Reduced Price Meals. The current (as of Spring, 2024) statistics on FARMS eligibility within Network schools are shown below.

Note: the percentage of 100% indicates the school currently offers free breakfast and lunch to all students, implementing the Community Eligibility Provision.