About PlainFoodAccess

Our Mission

PlainFoodAccess exists because researchers, policymakers, journalists, and community advocates deserve clear, accessible food access data without needing to navigate complex government databases or parse raw Census files.

We believe that understanding where people lack access to affordable, nutritious food is a prerequisite for solving food insecurity. The USDA and Census Bureau collect this data at public expense, it belongs to the public in a form they can actually use. PlainFoodAccess transforms scattered government datasets into a single, searchable resource covering every U.S. county.

We present data without editorial rankings or sponsored content. Every county profile shows the same metrics from the same sources, allowing for genuine comparison. Our role is to make the data accessible, not to tell communities what it means for them.

Our Data Sources

USDA Economic Research Service (ERS)

The primary food access data on PlainFoodAccess comes from the USDA ERS Food Access Research Atlas. This dataset identifies census tracts where residents have limited access to affordable, nutritious food, commonly called food deserts. The Atlas uses two key measures: income level (based on poverty rates) and distance to the nearest supermarket (1 mile for urban, 10 miles for rural).

The Food Access Research Atlas is the authoritative federal source for food desert identification. Unlike informal or crowd-sourced food access assessments, this dataset applies consistent, transparent criteria across all U.S. census tracts. USDA Food Access Research Atlas.

U.S. Census Bureau

Demographic and socioeconomic data, population, median household income, poverty rate, vehicle access, comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households annually and produces estimates for every county and census tract in the nation. Census Bureau ACS.

SNAP & vehicle access (Census ACS)

County SNAP participation and vehicle-access figures come from the same Census American Community Survey - SNAP from table B22010 (households receiving food-stamp/SNAP benefits) and no-vehicle households from table B08201. SNAP serves roughly 42 million Americans per month nationally, and household participation is one of the strongest county-level indicators of food insecurity. Census ACS data tables.

USDA FNS SNAP Retailer Locator

Every county profile also lists the specific stores currently authorized to accept SNAP (EBT) benefits, grouped by store type, sourced from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service's SNAP Retailer Locator data. We keep only currently-authorized retailers (no end date in the source file) and map each store's county/state to a county FIPS code. SNAP Retailer Locator data.

How We Process the Data

We download source files from the USDA and Census Bureau and process them through the following steps:

• Census tract aggregation: The USDA Food Access Research Atlas provides data at the census tract level. We aggregate tract-level food access metrics to the county level, calculating the share of population in low-access tracts and the share in food desert tracts for each of 3,144 U.S. counties.
• Demographic enrichment: We join Census ACS data, population, median income, poverty rate, vehicle access, to each county record, providing socioeconomic context alongside food access metrics.
• SNAP & transport context: SNAP participation and vehicle access come from the Census ACS (tables B22010 and B08201) and are joined to each county to show food-assistance and transport conditions alongside the USDA access metrics.
• State-level summaries: State pages aggregate county data within each state. Rankings are based on the underlying food access indicators, not on custom scoring formulas.
• Missing data handling: When Census data does not cover a particular county or tract, we show "Data not available" rather than interpolating from neighboring areas. Missing values are never displayed as zeros.

Data Currency

PlainFoodAccess displays food-access metrics from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019 edition) - the most recent edition published by the USDA ERS, joined to socioeconomic context from the Census ACS 2024 5-year estimates. The two datasets carry different vintages, and every page labels which is which.

The USDA publishes updated Food Access Research Atlas editions periodically (not on a fixed schedule). We update PlainFoodAccess within 30 days of each new release. Census ACS data is updated annually; we incorporate new 5-year estimates when published, typically in December. Note that all federal food access data inherently lags the current period by 2-4 years.

Editorial Independence

PlainFoodAccess is built from two public datasets, the USDA Economic Research Service Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates), which supplies population, income, poverty, SNAP, and vehicle-access figures, transformed into county and state profiles by an automated data pipeline and rendered directly from the source values. The PlainFoodAccess editorial process is responsible for data standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from grocery chains, retailers, food manufacturers, state agencies, advocacy organizations, or any party with an interest in how food-access conditions are represented. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which counties, states, or indicators we cover, and they do not receive preferential placement in rankings or profiles.

Data methodology, including how we aggregate the USDA Atlas's tract-level low-access and food-desert classifications up to the county level and join Census ACS context, is documented on our methodology page. Corrections are processed on the next data refresh cycle and are never backdated silently.

Limitations & Disclaimers

PlainFoodAccess is an informational resource. Food access data should inform community planning and research, but aggregate county statistics cannot capture the lived experience of food insecurity in individual neighborhoods or households.

• County-level aggregation: Food access conditions vary dramatically within a single county. A county with a moderate food desert percentage may have extreme pockets of low access that are masked by the aggregate statistic. Tract-level data provides more granularity.
• Data vintage: The Food Access Research Atlas uses store location data from 2019. Grocery stores open and close frequently, a county's food access conditions may have changed significantly since the reference period.
• Distance is not the only barrier: The USDA definition focuses on distance to supermarkets, but affordability, store quality, cultural food preferences, and transportation access all affect real-world food access. See our guide on transportation barriers.
• SNAP participation vs. eligibility: Not all eligible households participate in SNAP. Participation rates reflect both need and access to the program, low rates may indicate low poverty or high enrollment barriers.

PlainFoodAccess is not affiliated with the USDA, Census Bureau, or any government agency. This site does not provide nutritional, medical, or policy advice.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or feedback? Email us at hello@plainfoodaccess.com.

We welcome:

• Questions about data sources or methodology
• Reports of apparent data errors or anomalies
• Suggestions for additional data or features
• Media and research inquiries

PlainFoodAccess is a data intelligence company that builds free, public-interest data portals. We transform complex government datasets into accessible, searchable resources for researchers, journalists, policymakers, and the public.