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
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
- 6.1%
- in food deserts
- 9,228
- food-desert tracts
- 12.1%
- households on SNAP
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).
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.
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.
Worst food deserts
| # | County | Low-access |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camas County, ID | 100.0% |
| 2 | Clark County, ID | 100.0% |
| 3 | Clark County, KS | 100.0% |
| 4 | Carter County, MT | 100.0% |
| 5 | Golden Valley County, MT | 100.0% |
| 6 | Meagher County, MT | 100.0% |
| 7 | Petroleum County, MT | 100.0% |
| 8 | Prairie County, MT | 100.0% |
| 9 | Treasure County, MT | 100.0% |
| 10 | Wibaux County, MT | 100.0% |
Browse by state
Largest food-desert populations
Counties with the most residents who are both low-income and low-access — where the USDA food-desert measure concentrates
- Harris, TX
Harris County, Texas
236,351 people
- Maricopa, AZ
Maricopa County, Arizona
210,290 people
- San Bernardino, CA
San Bernardino County, California
173,574 people
- Dallas, TX
Dallas County, Texas
171,370 people
- Bexar, TX
Bexar County, Texas
166,124 people
- Hidalgo, TX
Hidalgo County, Texas
157,181 people
- Riverside, CA
Riverside County, California
152,519 people
- Tarrant, TX
Tarrant County, Texas
148,852 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.
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.