County food-access profile · Pennsylvania
Cumberland County, PA
Distance to a supermarket is a real obstacle for a meaningful share of Cumberland County residents. This profile covers who qualifies as a food desert here and the income, SNAP, and vehicle-access context behind it, from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and the Census ACS (2024).
- 27.0%
- low-access pop.
- 3
- food-desert tracts
- 7.8%
- on SNAP
- 268K
- residents (ACS 2024)
The food-access picture
27.0% of Cumberland County residents live in a low-access area, and 3 of its 49 census tracts are USDA-designated food deserts.
- 24
- low-access tracts
- 12K
- food-desert residents
- 5.0%
- households, no vehicle
- 7.5%
- below poverty line
Low access = living more than 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from the nearest supermarket. Food deserts add a low-income condition (USDA LILA, 1-and-10-mile measure).
USDA data puts Cumberland County's low-access share at 27.0%, above the national share. 24 of the county's 49 census tracts are classified low-access, meaning residents there live far from a supermarket, an area covering about 63,487 people. 3 of those also meet the low-income condition that defines a food desert, home to roughly 12,432 low-income residents.
How the USDA defines low-access and food-desert tracts
The USDA measures food access by distance to the nearest supermarket. A census tract is "low-access" when a meaningful share of residents live more than one mile from a supermarket in urban areas, or more than ten miles in rural areas. A tract becomes a "food desert" only when it is both low-access and low-income, because distance is far harder to overcome for households without a car or a cushion in the budget. Counts on this page are aggregated from the tract level, where the federal data is actually published, so a single county figure can hide neighbourhoods that are much better or much worse served than the average. Distance also does not capture everything that shapes whether a family eats well: the presence of a full-service grocer rather than a convenience store, public transit, food pantries, and the price and quality of what is on the shelf all matter beyond the radius the Atlas can draw.
How Cumberland County compares nationally
Relative to the 3,133 U.S. counties with USDA food-access data, Cumberland County's 27.0% low-access share is elevated, higher than 63% of them and ranked #1,151 most-affected nationwide.
Cumberland County: USDA Food-Access Tier Breakdown
All 49 census tracts in Cumberland County, grouped by USDA classification (see "How the USDA defines low-access and food-desert tracts" above for what each tier means).
Cumberland County vs. other Pennsylvania counties
Share of the population living in low-access areas, compared with other counties in Pennsylvania
- Cumberland
Cumberland County, PA
27 % low-access
- Adams
Adams County, PA
15.9 % low-access
- Allegheny
Allegheny County, PA
26.4 % low-access
- Armstrong 5.2
Armstrong County, PA
5.2 % low-access
- Beaver
Beaver County, PA
32.5 % low-access
- Bedford
Bedford County, PA
22.7 % low-access
Food Access (USDA FARA 2019)
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Census Tracts | 49 |
| Atlas Population (2010 basis) | 235,406 |
| Low-Access Tracts | 24 |
| Food-Desert Tracts (low-income & low-access) | 3 |
| Low-Access Population | 63,487 |
| Low-Access Share | 27.0%above the national average |
| Low-Income & Low-Access Population | 12,432 |
Demographics & Assistance (Census ACS 2024)
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Population | 268,323 |
| Median Household Income | $87,494 |
| Poverty Rate | 7.5%well below the national average |
| SNAP Households | 8,281 |
| SNAP Participation Rate | 7.8%below the national average |
| Households Without a Vehicle | 5.0%below the national average |
| Group-Quarters Population | 5.0% |
About 7.8% of Cumberland County households receive SNAP, versus a U.S. county median in the 11–13% range (Census ACS).
What this means
- 27.0% of residents are low-access, above the national share for U.S. counties.
- 7.8% of households receive SNAP, the federal program that offsets food costs for 8,281 households here.
- 5.0% of households have no vehicle, the hidden multiplier that turns distance into a real barrier.
- 3 tracts meet the USDA food-desert threshold (low-income and low-access).
USDA low-access figures reflect the 2019 Atlas (2010 tract populations); socioeconomic context is the latest Census ACS 5-year (2024).
What the food-access data shows for Cumberland County
above the national share
3 of Cumberland County's 49 census tracts are USDA-designated food deserts, low-income areas where many residents also live far from a supermarket, about 6.1% of all its tracts.
A further 21 tracts are low-access but not low-income, bringing the total low-access tract count to 24.
An estimated 63,487 residents, roughly 27.0% of the county's 2010 population, live in one of these low-access areas.
Of those, 12,432 are also low-income, the group most exposed to genuine food hardship, since limited transportation compounds a limited budget.
The remaining 25 tracts (51.0%) meet the USDA's adequate-access threshold.
SNAP retailers in Cumberland County
Cumberland County has 184 stores currently authorized to accept SNAP (EBT) benefits, across 9 store categories. Convenience Store lead with 74 locations (40% of the total), followed by combination grocery/other.
Convenience Store · 74
- 555 mart, camp hill
- 7-eleven 40069a, shippensburg
- 7-eleven 40277, newburg
- 7-eleven 40278, carlisle
- 7-eleven 40448, enola
- 7-eleven store #40165a 40165a, camp hill
- 7-eleven store #41338a, carlisle
- 786mnsllc, carlisle
- a-z mart, camp hill
- az mini mart, enola
- camphill mart, camp hill
- carlisle food mart, carlisle
- carlisle fuel stop llc 1, carlisle
- deep krish corp, newville
- express mart, mechanicsburg
- fuel city carlisle, carlisle
- fuel city enola, enola
- ganesha llc 1, enola
- getty mart, boiling springs
- go minute stop, carlisle
- joe's kwik mart 1032, camp hill
- lemoyne mart, lemoyne
- love's travel stop 407, carlisle
- market on third, lemoyne
- new kingston vapes, new kingstown
- nilam and janki corporation, carlisle
- petro carlisle 336, carlisle
- pilot travel center 708, carlisle
- plainfield mart, carlisle
- premium food mart, mechanicsburg
- quality gas & food mart, new cumberland
- quality gas mart, mechanicsburg
- quality mart, enola
- rt 11 expressway llc, carlisle
- rutter's 107, shippensburg
- rutters 29, mechanicsburg
- rutters 31, shippensburg
- rutters 64, carlisle
- rutters 66, carlisle
- sheetz 191, carlisle
- sheetz 195, mechanicsburg
- sheetz 201, mechanicsburg
- sheetz 232, mount holly springs
- sheetz 263, carlisle
- sheetz 426, carlisle
- sheetz 469, newville
- sheetz 518, mechanicsburg
- sheetz 527, mechanicsburg
- sheetz 638, carlisle
- sheetz 657, camp hill
- sheetz 692, camp hill
- sheetz 70, shippensburg
- sheetz 917, camp hill
- sheetz 919, camp hill
- shree hardev llc/ sun up markets, mechanicsburg
- smart mart, new cumberland
- speedway 6716, carlisle
- speedway 6718, lemoyne
- speedway 6739, carlisle
- speedway 6740, carlisle
- speedy mart, camp hill
- super mart, carlisle
- turkey hill minit markets 950216, carlisle
- turkey hill minit markets 950236, mechanicsburg
- turkey hill minit markets 950240, mechanicsburg
- turkey hill minit markets 950268, mechanicsburg
- turkey hill minit markets 950280, enola
- turkey hill minit markets 950283, shippensburg
- turkey hill minit markets 950294, mechanicsburg
- ugo3 n/a, newville
- us food market 1, shippensburg
- wawa store 8198, east pennsboro
- windswept valley farm meats & more, mechanicsburg
- yeti boba & convenience, carlisle
Combination Grocery/Other · 39
- cvs pharmacy 1626, mechanicsburg
- cvs pharmacy 1646, carlisle
- cvs pharmacy 5726, shippensburg
- cvs pharmacy 1622, lemoyne
- cvs pharmacy 1630, camp hill
- cvs pharmacy 1636, mechanicsburg
- cvs pharmacy 1639, mechanicsburg
- cvs pharmacy 2321, enola
- cvs pharmacy 5991, mechanicsburg
- clean eatz harrisburg, camp hill
- dollar general 0149, shippensburg
- dollar general 14335, lemoyne
- dollar general 1449, mechanicsburg
- dollar general 8418, newville
- dollar general 8813, mount holly springs
- dollar tree 3431, carlisle
- dollartree 10738, mechanicsburg
- dollartree 11506, carlisle
- dollartree 6335, mechanicsburg
- dollar general 13425, carlisle
- dollar general 17015, carlisle
- dollar general 22087, newburg
- dollar general 30751, newville
- dollar general 31435, mechanicsburg
- dollar general 7373, camp hill
- dollar general store 17028, carlisle
- dollar tree 0908, carlisle
- dollar tree 1716, mechanicsburg
- dollar tree 2146, enola
- dollar tree 2746, shippensburg
- dollar tree 8564, camp hill
- dollar tree 945, lemoyne
- family dollar 10516, newville
- family dollar 11826, carlisle
- family dollar 12640, enola
- family dollar 8446, carlisle
- family dollar 8756, mount holly springs
- juba halal market, mechanicsburg
- ocean state job lot 610, mechanicsburg
Supermarket · 26
- aldi 146, mechanicsburg
- aldi 69092 69092, carlisle
- aldi 71196, dillsburg
- aldi 79040 79040, camp hill
- aldi 97, shippensburg
- apna bazar farmers market 1, mechanicsburg
- giant food store 6005, mechanicsburg
- giant food store 6061, shippensburg
- giant food store 6112, carlisle
- giant food store 6120, mechanicsburg
- giant food store 6269, camp hill
- giant food store 6331, mechanicsburg
- giant food store 6529, enola
- giant food store 6542, carlisle
- grocery outlet of mechanicsburg 746, mechanicsburg
- mechanicsburg grocery outlet - rlazar incorporate 746, mechanicsburg
- soltan bazar, mechanicsburg
- trader joe's camp hill 569, camp hill
- the grossery, mechanicsburg
- wegmans 45, mechanicsburg
- weis markets 125, camp hill
- weis markets 199, mechanicsburg
- weis markets 209, newville
- weis markets 225, enola
- weis markets 58, mechanicsburg
- weis markets 95, carlisle
Super Store · 16
- b js wholesale club 25, camp hill
- bb's grocery outlet 3, newburg
- bj's wholesale club 399, mechanicsburg
- bombay bazzar, mechanicsburg
- costco wholesale 1719, mechanicsburg
- karns quality foods 3, mechanicsburg
- karns quality foods 4, lemoyne
- karns quality foods 441, carlisle
- karns quality foods 6, boiling springs
- sam's club 4994, mechanicsburg
- target 2099, carlisle
- target stores 2202, mechanicsburg
- walmart supercenter 1886, mechanicsburg
- walmart supercenter 2574, carlisle
- walmart supercenter 5358, shippensburg
- walmart supercenter 5888, camp hill
Medium Grocery Store · 15
- al-khayrat halal market llc, carlisle
- arohi & arnav enterprises llc, shippensburg
- asian choice grocery, mechanicsburg
- best sibling venture llc, carlisle
- carlisle inernational grocery no, carlisle
- casa market, mechanicsburg
- chhapra 365 llc, carlisle
- druk grocery, llc, shippensburg
- el ola halal, camp hill
- himalayan nepali store, llc, mechanicsburg
- mediterranean market llc, mechanicsburg
- namaste market llc, mechanicsburg
- nepali grocery and cell phone repair inc, carlisle
- stroehmanns bakery outlet, camp hill
- sunny ridge markets, shippensburg
Small Grocery Store · 8
- asian international bazar, camp hill
- beerhaani grocery store 1, camp hill
- chungs asian market, mechanicsburg
- golden international market, new cumberland
- kg mart 1, camp hill
- mersida's market, carlisle
- nk bazar, enola
- tawakal market, mechanicsburg
Meat/Poultry Specialty · 4
- s. clyde weaver, inc., lemoyne
- shaffer's abattoir, inc. n/a, lemoyne
- the country butcher shop, inc., carlisle
- tyler's custom cuts, newville
Farmers' Market · 1
- farmers on the square,llc, carlisle
Military Commissary · 1
- carlisle barracks commissary 2308, carlisle
Source: USDA SNAP Retailer Locator, currently authorized retailers.
Other Counties in Pennsylvania
Compare Cumberland County vs Adams County → · All Pennsylvania counties →
Food access nationally, Pennsylvania in context
Cumberland County sits inside Pennsylvania (ringed). Each state is colored by its population-weighted low-access share; click any state to compare.
USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas (2019), population-weighted · Census ACS 2024 context
Understand the Data
Frequently Asked Questions
What share of Cumberland County has low food access? ▼
What is the SNAP participation rate in Cumberland County? ▼
What is the poverty rate in Cumberland County? ▼
Is Cumberland County a food desert? ▼
What share of Cumberland County households lack a vehicle? ▼
Data Sources & Methodology
USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas (2019): low-access and food-desert tract classifications, low-access population, and low-income low-access counts. ers.usda.gov/food-access-research-atlas
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2024 5-Year Estimates: population, median income, poverty, SNAP participation, vehicle access, and group quarters. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
Low access is defined as living more than 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from the nearest supermarket; a food desert adds a low-income condition. Read the full methodology →
Data current as of (most recent source-data vintage; figures reflect the 2019 USDA Atlas and 2024 Census ACS).
Note: This page presents public USDA and Census data for informational purposes and is not professional advice. Figures reflect the cited dataset vintages and may differ from the most recent local conditions. How this data is sourced & verified.