The COVID-19 Outbreak and Food Production Workers: Who is at Risk?

Table 1: Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics of Food Production Workers, 2018
All Workers All Food Production Animal Processing and Production Crop Production Other Food Manufacturing Seafood and Other Miscellaneous Foods
Total 155,924,000 3,385,000 1,290,000 1,010,000 831,000 253,0000
Age
18-50 67% 67% 67% 66% 69% 67%
50-64 27% 27% 28% 25% 28% 29%
65+ 6% 6% 5% 9% 4% 3%
Gender
Male 52% 69% 70% 73% 64% 62%
Female 48% 31% 30% 27% 36% 38%
Race/Ethnicity
White 62% 51% 53% 45% 54% 50%
Black 12% 10% 13% 3% 12% 14%
Hispanic 17% 34% 28% 49% 26% 26%
Other 9% 6% 6% 3% 7% 10%
Citizenship Status
Citizen 92% 78% 81% 67% 86% 84%
Noncitizen 8% 22% 19% 33% 14% 16%
Language
Speaks another Language at Home 22% 37% 33% 49% 31% 32%
Fluent in English 92% 75% 78% 64% 83% 81%
Employment
Full-time 76% 82% 86% 74% 85% 87%
Household Income
<100% FPL 6% 9% 7% 13% 6% 6%
100% < 200% FPL 13% 20% 20% 26% 16% 14%
200% < 400% FPL 30% 36% 38% 34% 36% 38%
400% FPL + 50% 35% 35% 27% 43% 42%
Health Insurance Coverage
Employer 68% 59% 66% 38% 70% 74%
Medicaid 9% 12% 9% 18% 10% 9%
Other 5% 4% 4% 7% 3% 3%
Non-Group 7% 7% 6% 11% 6% 4%
Uninsured 10% 17% 15% 26% 12% 10%
NOTES: Animal processing and production includes animal food, grain, and oilseed milling; animal production and aquaculture; animal slaughtering and processing; and dairy product manufacturing. Other Food Manufacturing includes bakeries and tortilla manufacturing, except retail bakers; beverage manufacturing, fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing; sugar and confectionary products; and not specified food industries. FPL is the federal poverty level. In 2020, the FPL is $12,760 for an individual and $26,200 for a family of four.
SOURCE: KFF analysis of American Community Survey, 2018.
Table2: All Workers and Food Production Workers by State, 2018
All Workers Food Production Workers Animal Production and Processing Crop Production Other Food Manufacturing Seafood and Other Miscellaneous
Alabama 2,092,000 45,000 30,000 5,000 6,000 4,000
Alaska 358,000 11,000 1,000 3,000 6,000
Arizona 3,227,000 44,000 13,000 17,000 11,000 3,000
Arkansas 1,289,000 82,000 59,000 12,000 8,000 3,000
California 18,436,000 587,000 88,000 317,000 146,000 36,000
Colorado 2,972,000 53,000 25,000 14,000 13,000 1,000
Connecticut 1,795,000 15,000 4,000 4,000 6,000 1,000
Delaware 469,000 12,000 7,000 3,000 2,000
District of Columbia 378,000 1,000
Florida 9,687,000 115,000 21,000 55,000 34,000 5,000
Georgia 4,914,000 107,000 46,000 23,000 27,000 11,000
Hawaii 667,000 11,000 2,000 5,000 3,000
Idaho 813,000 51,000 22,000 17,000 10,000 2,000
Illinois 6,321,000 146,000 48,000 31,000 49,000 17,000
Indiana 3,257,000 72,000 31,000 16,000 17,000 9,000
Iowa 1,597,000 98,000 66,000 20,000 7,000 4,000
Kansas 1,424,000 62,000 35,000 16,000 7,000 5,000
Kentucky 2,000,000 55,000 23,000 11,000 16,000 4,000
Louisiana 2,011,000 27,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 3,000
Maine 665,000 12,000 3,000 5,000 4,000
Maryland 3,096,000 26,000 9,000 4,000 8,000 5,000
Massachusetts 3,584,000 30,000 8,000 6,000 12,000 4,000
Michigan 4,744,000 78,000 29,000 21,000 23,000 5,000
Minnesota 2,968,000 96,000 51,000 23,000 16,000 6,000
Mississippi 1,234,000 33,000 23,000 6,000 2,000 2,000
Missouri 2,939,000 93,000 51,000 19,000 18,000 5,000
Montana 519,000 23,000 13,000 6,000 3,000
Nebraska 973,000 55,000 33,000 16,000 4,000 2,000
Nevada 1,445,000 13,000 4,000 3,000 4,000 1,000
New Hampshire 720,000 6,000 2,000 2,000 2,000
New Jersey 4,517,000 49,000 9,000 8,000 25,000 7,000
New Mexico 877,000 22,000 13,000 5,000 3,000 1,000
New York 9,438,000 95,000 33,000 20,000 36,000 6,000
North Carolina 4,867,000 115,000 53,000 31,000 24,000 7,000
North Dakota 391,000 16,000 4,000 10,000 2,000
Ohio 5,699,000 97,000 33,000 19,000 34,000 11,000
Oklahoma 1,789,000 41,000 25,000 9,000 7,000 1,000
Oregon 2,014,000 77,000 13,000 36,000 24,000 4,000
Pennsylvania 6,283,000 121,000 41,000 22,000 43,000 15,000
Rhode Island 525,000 5,000 1,000 1,000 2,000 1,000
South Carolina 2,314,000 28,000 12,000 6,000 7,000 3,000
South Dakota 440,000 29,000 18,000 9,000 1,000 1,000
Tennessee 3,102,000 60,000 26,000 8,000 24,000 2,000
Texas 13,283,000 202,000 98,000 38,000 54,000 12,000
Utah 1,533,000 30,000 14,000 6,000 8,000 2,000
Vermont 325,000 12,000 7,000 2,000 1,000 2,000
Virginia 4,177,000 55,000 27,000 8,000 15,000 6,000
Washington 3,708,000 134,000 25,000 71,000 28,000 11,000
West Virginia 759,000 6,000 3,000 1,000 2,000
Wisconsin 2,999,000 124,000 73,000 17,000 25,000 10,000
Wyoming 290,000 8,000 6,000 1,000
NOTES: Animal processing and production includes animal food, grain, and oilseed milling; animal production and aquaculture; animal slaughtering and processing; and dairy product manufacturing. Other Food Manufacturing includes bakeries and tortilla manufacturing, except retail bakers; beverage manufacturing, fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing; sugar and confectionary products; and not specified food industries.
SOURCE: KFF analysis of American Community Survey, 2018.
Methods

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.