FoodAPS National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) United States Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  FoodAPS 01/29/2026 12:03:PM

Project Citation: 

United States Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service. FoodAPS National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-01-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/E244745V1

Project Description

Project Title:  View help for Project Title FoodAPS National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey
Summary:  View help for Summary USDA's National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) is the first nationally representative survey of U.S. households to collect unique and comprehensive data about household food purchases and acquisitions. Detailed information was collected about foods purchased or otherwise acquired for consumption at home and away from home, including foods acquired through food and nutrition assistance programs. The survey includes nationally representative data from 4,826 households, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households, low-income households not participating in SNAP, and higher income households.

The public-use files include: the household-level and individual-level interview files, the food-at-home (FAH) and food-away-from-home (FAFH) event files, the FAH and FAFH item files, data from the Meals and Snacks form, household access to FAFH outlets, and SNAP-authorized FAH retailers. All codebooks and a User's Guide, providing an overview of the survey and data sets as well as general notes about using the data, are also available.

This dataset also includes reports, questionnaires and charts associated with this dataset, as well as screenshots of the USDA website for this dataset as it appeared on 2026-1-29. 
Original Distribution URL:  View help for Original Distribution URL https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/foodaps-national-household-food-acquisition-and-purchase-survey

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms food costs; food aid; food programs; food security; food preferences
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 4/2012 – 1/2013
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) survey data
Collection Notes:  View help for Collection Notes Data downloaded 2026-01-29

Methodology

Sampling:  View help for Sampling FoodAPS collected the data from a nationally representative, stratified sample of 4,826 households between April 2012 and January 2013. Stratification was based on participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and total household income; the four strata were:
  1. Households receiving SNAP benefits, with a target sample size of 1,500 (actual 1,581),
  2. Non-SNAP households with income less than the poverty guideline, with a target sample size of 800 (actual 346),
  3. Non-SNAP households with income at or above 100 percent of the poverty guideline and less than 185 percent of that level, with a target sample size of 1,200 (actual 851), and
  4. Non-SNAP households with income equal to or greater than 185 percent of the poverty guideline, with a target sample size of 1,500 (actual 2,048).
The FoodAPS sample of households was selected using two sample frames and a multi-stage sample design covering the contiguous United States. The first stage of the sampling process selected a stratified sample of 50 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs, defined as counties or groups of contiguous counties). The selection was proportional to size (PPS), with the measure of size (MOS) for each PSU being a composite that reflected the overall sample targets and the estimated population in each PSU for each of the four strata.
Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) face-to-face interview; mixed mode; on-site questionnaire; other

Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2026-01-29]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as received from the data depositor. ICPSR has not reviewed, checked, or processed this material. For additional information about the study, please contact the investigator(s) directly. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR's Accessibility Center.