A family of six in Ashland County is leaning on food pantries even though the father works full time as a truck driver, because their monthly bills add up to more than his paycheck can cover. Their situation, described in a new statewide hunger study, is far from unique: more than half of surveyed households at Ohio food pantries say they've had to choose between paying for food and keeping the lights or heat on.
The findings come from the Ohio Association of Foodbanks' 2026 Hunger Study, which surveyed more than 2,600 people who visited an Ohio food pantry or food distribution site between April 18 and May 22, according to Cleveland.com. Fifty-seven percent of respondents reported choosing between food and utilities, and that number climbed to 65% among households with children. Households wrestling with chronic illness or disability also reported having to pick between buying medicine and buying food, per the study.
The Ashland County household, identified only as Ashley's family, doesn't qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, according to Ashley, even though her husband works full time. “Our bills total more than my husband makes,” Ashley said, adding that the family is trying to make ends meet by whatever means necessary. Under Ohio Department of Job and Family Services rules, standard SNAP eligibility caps gross monthly income at 130% of the federal poverty level — $36,075 a year for a family of four in 2026 — leaving many working households just above that line without federal food assistance, according to Ohio Legal Help.
Skipped Meals Are Becoming Routine
The study found that 52% of surveyed households had at least one member who skipped meals during the previous year, and among those households, 59% said the meal skipping happened every month. Half of surveyed households had at least one person employed during the previous 12 months, while 76% had at least one member living with a chronic illness or disability. Among households without anyone employed, 48% reported someone unable to work because of a disability or illness, 38% reported someone in the household was retired, and 11% reported a household member serving as a caregiver.
“Food insecurity often reflects larger financial and health challenges facing Ohio families,” said Joree Novotny, per the study findings reported by Cleveland.com. Novotny added that Ohio families are visiting food pantries as they work hard to keep up with rising food costs, inflation and other external pressures, and that the survey findings underscore the growing pressures fueling hunger across the state. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks said the findings highlight continued demand for food assistance as households face rising costs and limited resources.
Assistance Helps, But Demand Keeps Climbing
Despite the strain, food assistance is making a measurable difference for many who receive it. Thirty-nine percent of survey respondents said food assistance allowed them to eat healthier food than they otherwise could afford, 51% said it reduced their stress, and 18% said it helped them better manage existing health conditions. Still, 40% of respondents expected to rely on free groceries or meals more often during the next year, a figure that rose to 52% among households with children.
The pressure on Ohio's charitable food network comes as state funding has actually shrunk. Ohio's 2026-2027 biennial budget allocated $24.55 million to the Ohio Association of Foodbanks network, a $7.3 million cut from the prior budget cycle as pandemic-era federal relief expired, returning state funding to roughly pre-COVID levels even as demand stays elevated, per the association's own accounting. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks coordinates 12 Feeding America food banks and more than 3,600 local partner agencies across all 88 counties, and distributed roughly 270 million pounds of food in 2024, providing about a fifth of everything Ohio food pantries hand out.
Northeast Ohio Feels the Squeeze Too
In Northeast Ohio, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank relies on a network of more than 1,000 pantries, meal programs and other partner agencies, serving more than 404,000 people and distributing over 53 million meals across Cuyahoga, Ashland, Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake and Richland counties in 2025. An August analysis by Axios found that nearly 300,000 residents — roughly 1 in 6 people — across that same six-county service area faced food insecurity in 2024.
Statewide, the picture is similarly stark. Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap study estimated more than 1.8 million Ohioans, or 15.3% of the state's population, experienced food insecurity in 2024, including 534,640 children — a rate higher than the 13.7% of U.S. households the USDA Economic Research Service found were food insecure at some point that same year. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has also documented racial disparities in food access, with nearly 30% of Black Ohioans and 25% of Latino Ohioans experiencing food insecurity in 2022, compared with a statewide average near 15%, and ranked Ohio 34th nationally in food access on its Health Value Dashboard.
Health Systems Step In Where Public Funding Falls Short
As government support recedes, some of the region's largest institutions have moved to fill gaps. Cleveland Clinic pledged $25 million to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank in June, including $5 million toward a new West Side Community Resource Center on Lorain Avenue that will offer a healthy choice market, benefits assistance and job services — a $25 million lifeline aimed squarely at food access as a driver of health outcomes. The health system also committed $2.5 million in May to Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio to expand fresh food access in Lorain County, where 15.4% of residents were food insecure in 2023.
Food secure, healthy individuals are better able to work and attend school, care for family members and participate in daily activities, according to the Ohio Association of Foodbanks. For families like Ashley's, that stability remains elusive even with a full-time paycheck coming in, underscoring why the state's food pantry network continues to see steady, and in many counties rising, demand even as the emergency funding that once propped it up has dried up.
