More than one in three households across Greater Washington struggled to put enough food on the table over the past year, according to the Capital Area Food Bank's 2026 Hunger Report.

The report, released Sept. 16, found that 38% of households in the D.C. metro area experienced food insecurity in the past year. That is the highest rate since the food bank and NORC at the University of Chicago began conducting the annual survey in 2022, when 33% of households were food insecure during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery. The rate was 36% in 2025.

For the first time, fewer than half of area households said they were highly confident they could consistently access the food they needed. That confidence level dropped 10 percentage points since 2022.

The region lost more than 100,000 jobs between January 2025 and January 2026, more than any other major metro area in the country during that period, according to the report. Federal workforce reductions and cuts to federal grants and contracts drove much of the loss.

Among households where someone left federal or contractor work before the May 2026 survey, nearly half had not found new employment. Of those who did land new jobs, nearly half earned less than before.

Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank, told DC News Now in a Sept. 17 interview that families under financial pressure cut food spending first. "People can't negotiate their rent. They generally can't negotiate transportation," Muthiah said. "… But food is where they tend to squeeze."

Prince George's County, Maryland, recorded the highest food insecurity rate at 56%. Prince William County, Virginia, followed at 47%. Arlington, Virginia, had the lowest rate in the survey at 22%.

About 34% of children in the region experienced food insecurity, the report found. Three in five low-income households and one in four middle-income households were food insecure. Non-white households faced food insecurity rates two to three times higher than white households, a gap the report said is widening.

Rising costs compounded the job losses. Forty-four percent of households said their financial situation worsened in the past 12 months, up from 40% in 2025. More than half said unusually high food prices were having a major impact on their budgets.

Nearly six in ten households reported dipping into savings to cover monthly expenses.

Federal policy changes could add more pressure. An Urban Institute analysis cited in the report projects that about 50,000 families across Greater Washington could lose an average of $187 per month in SNAP benefits. Those cuts stem from H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law July 4, 2025.

Maryland's SNAP enrollment already fell by nearly 43,000 people, or 6.4%, between May 2025 and May 2026, according to Patch.

A separate survey by Gallup and the Greater Washington Community Foundation found that about one in seven area residents visited a food bank in 2026. Confidence in the availability of good jobs in D.C. fell 14 points, Washington City Paper reported.

The Capital Area Food Bank said it plans to increase annual food distribution from about 66 million meals to as many as 75 million in coming years. The organization's "At the Table" fundraising dinner series begins Oct. 14 at Karravaan at Union Market in D.C., with tickets at $350 per person.