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Students Under the Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Program (2017-2024)

• Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRLP) participation varies substantially across benchmark MSAs, with larger metros such as Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta consistently reporting the highest number of eligible students, reflecting both population size and underlying economic conditions.
• Tampa Bay remains a mid-tier region in absolute FRPL counts, tracking closely with peers such as Phoenix and San Antonio across most years, without extreme spikes or collapses.
• Time-series trends show gradual increases in FRPL participation for many MSAs over the long run, with noticeable disruptions around 2020–2021, consistent with pandemic-era economic shocks and reporting changes.
• Competitive ranking trends indicate that Tampa Bay’s relative position among benchmark regions has remained broadly stable over time, suggesting that changes in FRPL participation have largely mirrored national and peer-region dynamics rather than reflecting uniquely local shifts.

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Trend Over Time

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Competitive Position Trend

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^{About: This indicator measures the total number of students eligible for the Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRPL) program within each Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). FRPL eligibility is commonly used as a proxy for economic disadvantage among school-aged populations. Data are reported at the school level and aggregated to counties, then translated to MSAs for regional comparison across benchmark regions. Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Common Core of Data (CCD), Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Program files. Data were sourced directly from NCES CCD school-level datasets and aggregated using NCES Geographic Relationship Files (GFR), county-to-MSA crosswalks, and internal data processing workflows.}