National and State Level Estimates of WIC Eligibility and Program Reach in 2022

This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2022 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percents of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category.

The analysis also provides estimates by FNS region, by state and territory, by race and ethnicity, and by urbanicity. For the first time in this series of reports, estimated coverage rates for American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) individuals are also presented at a national level.

• The average monthly WIC-eligible population totaled 11.79 million in calendar year 2022.
• In the average month of 2022, WIC served an estimated 53.5 percent of those eligible for WIC, which is a statistically significant increase from 2021 (51.2 percent).
• Coverage rates were highest for Hispanic (63.0 percent) and lowest for non-Hispanic White (45.9 percent) WIC-eligible individuals.
• The coverage rate for non-Hispanic AIAN WIC-eligible individuals was 59.1 percent.
• Nationally, more than 50 percent of WIC-eligible SNAP and Medicaid recipients do not participate in WIC.