Research & Data
WIC Program Cost Information
The CDPH/WIC Division operates a $1.1 billion program serving nearly 1 million of Californiaās residents each month. CDPH receives federal funding to administer the WIC Program based on a discretionary grant appropriated by Congress, subsequent reallocations of prior year unspent funds, and rebates from infant formula manufacturers. CDPH/WIC then uses a funding formula to allocate dollars to 84 Local Agencies to provide WIC services throughout California.
Located on the Center for Health and Human Services Open Data Portal, this file contains data on the WIC program, specifically the number of participants who redeemed food vouchers by participant category both by county and statewide. In addition, it provides the number of food vouchers redeemed and dollar value of the food vouchers redeemed monthly in 2010 - 2018.
As part of the state budget process, twice a year CDPH publishes the WIC Estimate Package. The Estimate Package includes food expenditure projections based on participation, historical expenditures by participation categories, any regulatory changes that affect costs, and inflation. The Estimate Package also includes cost per participant estimates at the participant category level. These categories are: (1) pregnant women, (2) breastfeeding women, (3) non-breastfeeding women, (4) infants, and (5) children up to their fifth birthday. The Estimate also includes other Local Assistance and State Operations expenditures.
Additional WIC program cost information can be found in various USDA reports; see the
Additional Resources page.