PlainFoodAccess

USDA Food Access Research Atlas · Census ACS

Where America lives far from food

Food-desert and food-access data for every U.S. county, low-access share, SNAP participation, poverty, and vehicle access, built from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and the Census ACS (2024), and verifiable against the source rows.

3,144
counties
22.1%
live low-access
9,228
food-desert tracts
6.1%
in food deserts
USDA FARA 2019 Census ACS 2024 3,144 counties · 51 states

The national picture

About 67.6M Americans - 22.1% of the population, live in a low-access area, and 18.7M of them are low-income enough to live in a USDA-designated food desert.

67.6M
low-access residents
18.7M
food-desert residents
12.1%
households on SNAP
8.2%
lack a vehicle

Low access = more than 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from a supermarket. Food deserts add a low-income condition (USDA LILA, 1-and-10-mile measure).

Data current as of (most recent source-data vintage; figures reflect the 2019 USDA Atlas and 2024 Census ACS).

Quick browse By stateWorst food desertsHighest SNAPCompare countiesGuides

Food access across the 50 states

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, the share of residents who live far from a supermarket. Click any state for its county breakdown.

AK 31 ME 13 VT 11 NH 28 WA 23 ID 26 MT 22 ND 29 MN 27 IL 20 WI 21 MI 23 NY 12 RI 24 MA 28 OR 17 NV 23 WY 30 SD 29 IA 20 IN 29 OH 25 PA 21 NJ 24 CT - CA 13 UT 24 CO 22 NE 22 MO 25 KY 20 WV 21 VA 20 MD 23 DE 27 AZ 27 NM 32 KS 26 AR 25 TN 27 NC 23 SC 29 DC 5 OK 25 LA 26 MS 26 AL 25 GA 31 HI 27 TX 25 FL 25

USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas (2019), population-weighted · Census ACS 2024 context

U.S. census tracts by food-access tier

All 71,700 U.S. census tracts in the USDA Atlas, grouped by classification. Food deserts are both low-access and low-income; low-access tracts are far from a supermarket but not low-income.

Food access tier distribution for all U.S. census tracts USDA-defined food-access tiers: 44539 census tracts adequate (within distance threshold), 17933 limited, 9228 severe (low-income low-access food desert). Total 71700 tracts evaluated. 44,539 tracts adequate (62.1%) 17,933 tracts limited (25.0%) 9,228 tracts severe / food desert (12.9%) Adequate 62% Limited 25% Severe 13% Food-access tier distribution: all U.S. census tracts
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas 2019

Worst food deserts

# County Low-access
1 Nye County, NV 87.1%
2 Palo Pinto County, TX 68.1%
3 Coryell County, TX 63.7%
4 Pulaski County, MO 63.3%
5 Valencia County, NM 58.8%
6 Bristol County, RI 56.0%
7 Forsyth County, GA 55.9%
8 Beauregard Parish, LA 55.8%
9 Baker County, FL 55.6%
10 Douglas County, WA 55.5%
View all rankings →

Browse by state

Alabama
67 counties · 24.5%
Alaska
30 counties · 30.9%
Arizona
15 counties · 26.8%
Arkansas
75 counties · 24.9%
California
58 counties · 13.3%
Colorado
64 counties · 21.5%
Connecticut
9 counties
Delaware
3 counties · 27.3%
District of Columbia
1 counties · 4.6%
Florida
67 counties · 25.1%
Georgia
159 counties · 30.9%
Hawaii
5 counties · 26.7%
Idaho
44 counties · 25.8%
Illinois
102 counties · 20.2%
Indiana
92 counties · 28.7%
Iowa
99 counties · 20.0%
Kansas
105 counties · 26.4%
Kentucky
120 counties · 19.8%
Louisiana
64 counties · 26.4%
Maine
16 counties · 13.4%
Maryland
24 counties · 22.7%
Massachusetts
14 counties · 27.8%
Michigan
83 counties · 23.2%
Minnesota
87 counties · 27.4%
Mississippi
82 counties · 26.4%
Missouri
115 counties · 24.9%
Montana
56 counties · 22.3%
Nebraska
93 counties · 21.9%
Nevada
17 counties · 23.0%
New Hampshire
10 counties · 27.5%
New Jersey
21 counties · 23.8%
New Mexico
33 counties · 31.7%
New York
62 counties · 12.0%
North Carolina
100 counties · 22.9%
North Dakota
53 counties · 28.9%
Ohio
88 counties · 25.1%
Oklahoma
77 counties · 25.2%
Oregon
36 counties · 16.9%
Pennsylvania
67 counties · 21.4%
Rhode Island
5 counties · 23.6%
South Carolina
46 counties · 28.7%
South Dakota
66 counties · 29.1%
Tennessee
95 counties · 27.2%
Texas
254 counties · 25.0%
Utah
29 counties · 23.9%
Vermont
14 counties · 11.2%
Virginia
133 counties · 20.4%
Washington
39 counties · 23.1%
West Virginia
55 counties · 21.3%
Wisconsin
72 counties · 21.4%
Wyoming
23 counties · 29.7%

Largest food-desert populations

Counties with the most residents who are both low-income and low-access, where the USDA food-desert measure concentrates

people

What this shows These are the most populous counties, so they carry the largest absolute food-desert populations, a different lens from the rural counties that top the low-access-share ranking. Browse any county for its local breakdown.

Source USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas As of 2019 edition

What the data shows

  • 22.1% of Americans, about 67.6M people, live more than a mile (urban) or ten miles (rural) from a supermarket.
  • 9,228 census tracts (6.1% of the population) are USDA food deserts: low-access and low-income together.
  • 12.1% of U.S. households receive SNAP, and 8.2% have no vehicle, the access gap is as much about transport as distance.
  • Every figure here is rendered directly from the USDA Atlas and Census ACS, search any of 3,144 counties to see the local picture.

USDA food-access figures reflect the 2019 Atlas (2010 tract populations); SNAP, poverty, and vehicle context is the Census ACS 2024 5-year estimates.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service Food Access Research Atlas (2019 edition), 9,228 of roughly 71,700 U.S. census tracts, about 12.8%, meet the food-desert threshold of being both low-income and low-access. Socioeconomic context, including SNAP participation and vehicle access, comes from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024 5-Year Estimates, released in December 2025. Every figure on this site is rendered directly from those two datasets; see our methodology for the full pipeline.

Food access guides

Understanding Food Access Data

What every indicator here measures, low-access share, food-desert tracts, SNAP, vehicle access, and the dataset behind each.

What Are Food Deserts?

USDA criteria for low-access areas, urban vs. rural thresholds, and how food deserts connect to health.

Food Security by County

Geographic patterns, which counties face the biggest challenges, and what drives disparities across the U.S.

How Food Deserts Affect Health

Research on diet-related disease and what the geographic patterns reveal.

Transportation Barriers

Why no-vehicle households turn distance into a real barrier to food access.

SNAP Benefits Explained

How the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program works and who qualifies.