County food-access profile · New York
Suffolk County, NY
Distance to a supermarket is a real obstacle for a meaningful share of Suffolk 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).
- 28.5%
- low-access pop.
- 6
- food-desert tracts
- 7.2%
- on SNAP
- 1.5M
- residents (ACS 2024)
The food-access picture
28.5% of Suffolk County residents live in a low-access area, and 6 of its 322 census tracts are USDA-designated food deserts.
- 171
- low-access tracts
- 60K
- food-desert residents
- 5.1%
- households, no vehicle
- 6.4%
- 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 Suffolk County's low-access share at 28.5%, above the national share. 171 of the county's 322 census tracts are classified low-access, meaning residents there live far from a supermarket, an area covering about 425,715 people. 6 of those also meet the low-income condition that defines a food desert, home to roughly 60,345 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 Suffolk County compares nationally
Relative to the 3,133 U.S. counties with USDA food-access data, Suffolk County's 28.5% low-access share is elevated, higher than 66% of them and ranked #1,050 most-affected nationwide.
Suffolk County: USDA Food-Access Tier Breakdown
All 322 census tracts in Suffolk County, grouped by USDA classification (see "How the USDA defines low-access and food-desert tracts" above for what each tier means).
Suffolk County vs. other New York counties
Share of the population living in low-access areas, compared with other counties in New York
- Suffolk
Suffolk County, NY
28.5 % low-access
- Albany
Albany County, NY
31.4 % low-access
- Allegany 3.9
Allegany County, NY
3.9 % low-access
- Bronx 0.6
Bronx County, NY
0.6 % low-access
- Broome
Broome County, NY
16.4 % low-access
- Cattaraugus 7.9
Cattaraugus County, NY
7.9 % low-access
Food Access (USDA FARA 2019)
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Census Tracts | 322 |
| Atlas Population (2010 basis) | 1,493,350 |
| Low-Access Tracts | 171 |
| Food-Desert Tracts (low-income & low-access) | 6 |
| Low-Access Population | 425,715 |
| Low-Access Share | 28.5%above the national average |
| Low-Income & Low-Access Population | 60,345 |
Demographics & Assistance (Census ACS 2024)
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Population | 1,530,146 |
| Median Household Income | $130,686 |
| Poverty Rate | 6.4%well below the national average |
| SNAP Households | 36,965 |
| SNAP Participation Rate | 7.2%well below the national average |
| Households Without a Vehicle | 5.1%below the national average |
| Group-Quarters Population | 1.9% |
About 7.2% of Suffolk County households receive SNAP, versus a U.S. county median in the 11–13% range (Census ACS).
What this means
- 28.5% of residents are low-access, above the national share for U.S. counties.
- 7.2% of households receive SNAP, the federal program that offsets food costs for 36,965 households here.
- 5.1% of households have no vehicle, the hidden multiplier that turns distance into a real barrier.
- 6 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 Suffolk County
above the national share
6 of Suffolk County's 322 census tracts are USDA-designated food deserts, low-income areas where many residents also live far from a supermarket, about 1.9% of all its tracts.
A further 165 tracts are low-access but not low-income, bringing the total low-access tract count to 171.
An estimated 425,715 residents, roughly 28.5% of the county's 2010 population, live in one of these low-access areas.
Of those, 60,345 are also low-income, the group most exposed to genuine food hardship, since limited transportation compounds a limited budget.
The remaining 151 tracts (46.9%) meet the USDA's adequate-access threshold.
SNAP retailers in Suffolk County
Suffolk County has 732 stores currently authorized to accept SNAP (EBT) benefits, across 2 store categories. Combination Grocery/Other lead with 182 locations (25% of the total), followed by convenience store.
Combination Grocery/Other · 182
- 2131 meat corp/marino&son meats, centereach
- 347 food corp, hauppauge
- 7 - eleven, port jefferson station
- 7 eleven store #25150d, manorville
- 7 eleven store #38297a, ronkonkoma
- 99 cents and up deal, bay shore
- afm fish & meat market corp., brentwood
- bagel cafe of stony brook, stony brook
- bazaar & mini market inc, huntington station
- cvs 3100, coram
- cvs pharmacy 1118, bayport
- cvs pharmacy 1192, holbrook
- cvs pharmacy 2042, smithtown
- cvs pharmacy 2059, west babylon
- cvs pharmacy 2225, nesconset
- cvs pharmacy 2285, smithtown
- cvs pharmacy 2286, ronkonkoma
- cvs pharmacy 2698, port jeff sta
- cvs pharmacy 2960, port jefferson
- cvs pharmacy 2961, huntington stat
- cvs pharmacy 3010, setauket
- cvs pharmacy 4455, east northport
- cvs pharmacy 5061, commack
- cvs pharmacy 5063, east hampton
- cvs pharmacy 5753, center moriches
- cvs pharmacy 6026, riverhead
- cvs pharmacy 7621, copiague
- cvs pharmacy 10191, westhampton beach
- cvs pharmacy 10582, east hampton
- cvs pharmacy 11, huntington
- cvs pharmacy 1115, lindenhurst
- cvs pharmacy 1117, bohemia
- cvs pharmacy 1186, selden
- cvs pharmacy 1190, center moriches
- cvs pharmacy 1222, deer park
- cvs pharmacy 1228, northport
- cvs pharmacy 1271, rocky point
- cvs pharmacy 146, east islip
- cvs pharmacy 1907, west sayville
- cvs pharmacy 1935, northport
- cvs pharmacy 1950, islip terrace
- cvs pharmacy 2211, lindenhurst
- cvs pharmacy 2232, greenlawn
- cvs pharmacy 2305, miller place
- cvs pharmacy 2318, brentwood
- cvs pharmacy 2721, farmingville
- cvs pharmacy 2725, huntington station
- cvs pharmacy 2726, wading river
- cvs pharmacy 275, medford
- cvs pharmacy 2836, bay shore
- cvs pharmacy 3015, west babylon
- cvs pharmacy 3099, bay shore
- cvs pharmacy 3105, mattituck
- cvs pharmacy 3382, shirley
- cvs pharmacy 4121, amityville
- cvs pharmacy 4452, north babylon
- cvs pharmacy 5062, southampton
- cvs pharmacy 5066, patchogue
- cvs pharmacy 509, central islip
- cvs pharmacy 5104, manorville
- cvs pharmacy 5191, shirley
- cvs pharmacy 5372, patchogue
- cvs pharmacy 5446, east northport
- cvs pharmacy 6023, smithtown
- cvs pharmacy 6025, centereach
- cvs pharmacy 8392, kings park
- cvs pharmacy 848, bellport
- cvs pharmacy 922, west islip
- cornucopia natural foods, sayville
- dollar general 19240, shirley
- dollar tree 3041, bay shore
- dollar tree 3043, patchogue
- dollar tree 3092, shirley
- dollar tree 3466, central islip
- dollar tree 3485, rocky point
- dollartree 10819, northport
- dollartree 8159, central islip
- dollartree 8173, port jefferson station
- dollartree 9117, amityville
- duane reade 14257, stony brook
- dollar general 19227, lindenhurst
- dollar general 19238, rocky point
- dollar general 21988, north amityville
- dollar general 30610, middle island
- dollar general 30933, ronkonkoma
- dollar general 31422, miller place
- dollar general 31505, coram
- dollar tree 3093, commack
- dollar tree 3471, selden
- dollar tree 3489, north babylon
- dollar tree 4016, lake grove
- dollar tree 4513, port jefferson station
- dollar tree 4599, ronkonkoma
- dollar tree 4856, medford
- dollar tree 4900, centereach
- dollar tree 5050, bohemia
- dollar tree 5112, lindenhurst
- dollar tree 5144, shirley
- dollar tree 5318, patchogue
- dollar tree 5429, hampton bays
- dollar tree 5669, west islip
- dollar tree 5839, hauppauge
- dollar tree 5995, medford
- dollar tree 6147, west babylon
- dollar tree 6318, brentwood
- dollar tree 6719, middle island
- dollar tree 7081, farmingville
- dollar tree 7316, sayville
- dollar tree 7320, huntington station
- dollar tree 7726, farmingdale
- dollar tree 7853, riverhead
- dollar tree 7893, miller place
- dollar tree 7937, islandia
- dollar tree 8484, east northport
- dollar tree deal$ 3951, commack
- emf gourmet italian market, east northport
- espinal two meat & produce corp/cherry valley mkt, central islip
- family dollar 11594, mastic
- family dollar 11733, bay shore
- family dollar 11830, patchogue
- family dollar 12584, shirley
- family dollar 4316, farmingville
- family dollar 4408, coram
- family dollar 4771, brentwood
- family dollar 7869, east northport
- family dollar 8742, huntington station
- healthy meals direct, patchogue
- healthy meals direct, islandia
- healthy meals direct, west babylon
- healthy meals direct, riverhead
- healthy meals direct, mount sinai
- healthy meals direct, deer park
- healthy meals direct, huntington
- healthy meals direct, commack
- healthy meals direct, smithtown
- healthy meals direct, west islip
- healthy meals direct, manorville
- healthy meals direct, llc, ronkonkoma
- healthy meals direct, llc, lake grove
- j & a mastic seafood inc, mastic
- larkfield iga llc, east northport
- meat market 111 inc, central islip
- my greek food market llc, commack
- north shore farms vets hwy, ltd, hauppauge
- ocean state job lot 511, east northport
- ocean state job lot 507, north babylon
- ocean state job lot 510, centereach
- quick chek corporation 141, lake grove
- quickchek 158, brentwood
- quickchek 169, copiague
- quickchek 181, commack
- quickchek 182, bohemia
- taimur grocery enterprises inc, huntington station
- tony's meat market of montauk, montauk
- uncle giuseppe's marketplace, north babylon
- walgreens 03470, huntington station
- walgreens 04687, medford
- walgreens 05135, selden
- walgreens 05439, deer park
- walgreens 05956, amityville
- walgreens 07628, smithtown
- walgreens 09190, islandia
- walgreens 09496, riverhead
- walgreens 09497, smithtown
- walgreens 09498, wading river
- walgreens 09667, sayville
- walgreens 09865, commack
- walgreens 10751, northport
- walgreens 11209, medford
- walgreens 11717, shirley
- walgreens 117513, east setauket
- walgreens 11778, patchogue
- walgreens 13643, east patchogue
- walgreens 13866, miller place
- walgreens 16303, brentwood
- walgreens 17275, westhampton beach
- walgreens 17701, huntington station
- walgreens 18150, bridgehampton
- walgreens 18339, oakdale
- walgreens 18973, rocky point
- walgreens 19951, west babylon
- walgreens 19981, mattituck
Convenience Store · 68
- 116 market corp, huntington station
- 145 coram inc, coram
- 161 li ave food store corp., holtsville
- 1823 middle country gas llc - mobil mart, ridge
- 223 broadway deli & minimarket corp., huntington
- 5 rivers petroleum inc, wyandanch
- 525 king mini market, shirley
- 7 -eleven store, patchogue
- 7 eleven, saint james
- 7 eleven #26250 26250, east northport
- 7 eleven 11211 11211, hauppauge
- 7 eleven 11226 11226f, coram
- 7 eleven 11237d, east patchogue
- 7 eleven 32637b, huntington station
- 7 eleven 33562, islandia
- 7 eleven 38220a, lindenhurst
- 7 eleven 41742h, west islip
- 7 eleven 41835h, bayport
- 7 eleven inc f 32722b, rocky point
- 7 eleven store # 11193b, centereach
- 7 eleven store # 11209g, holbrook
- 7 eleven store # 11245e, kings park
- 7 eleven store # 22644c, riverhead
- 7 eleven store # 34673b, coram
- 7 eleven store # 37722a, centereach
- 7 eleven store # 38043a, islip
- 7 eleven store # 38159a, bay shore
- 7 eleven store # 38383a, rocky point
- 7 eleven store # 39180b, west babylon
- 7 eleven store #11157e, east northport
- 7 eleven store #11168g, lindenhurst
- 7 eleven store #11200b, oakdale
- 7 eleven store #11205b, deer park
- 7 eleven store #11205c, deer park
- 7 eleven store #11207c, bay shore
- 7 eleven store #11213d, lake grove
- 7 eleven store #11214b, islandia
- 7 eleven store #11229b, coram
- 7 eleven store #11230a, westhampton beach
- 7 eleven store #11231d, bay shore
- 7 eleven store #15098f, patchogue
- 7 eleven store #15837g, east quogue
- 7 eleven store #15991f, huntington
- 7 eleven store #16025d, lindenhurst
- 7 eleven store #16050g, islandia
- 7 eleven store #16361f, coram
- 7 eleven store #16432e, west islip
- 7 eleven store #19131d, shirley
- 7 eleven store #20093f, greenport
- 7 eleven store #20480c, commack
- 7 eleven store #23358b, stony brook
- 7 eleven store #23377e, ronkonkoma
- 7 eleven store #24020f, southold
- 7 eleven store #24427d, farmingville
- 7 eleven store #25520d, huntington station
- 7 eleven store #25627d, mount sinai
- 7 eleven store #26072e, miller place
- 7 eleven store #27187b, hampton bays
- 7 eleven store #32211b, medford
- 7 eleven store #32263b, west babylon
- 7 eleven store #32758b, centereach
- 7 eleven store #32760b, melville
- 7 eleven store #33243b, commack
- 7 eleven store #33499b, lindenhurst
- 7 eleven store #33545b, huntington station
- 7 eleven store #34216c, mattituck
- 7 eleven store #34446a, bay shore
- 7 eleven store #34450c, smithtown
Showing 250 of 732 authorized retailers, largest categories first.
Source: USDA SNAP Retailer Locator, currently authorized retailers.
Other Counties in New York
Compare Suffolk County vs Albany County → · All New York counties →
Food access nationally, New York in context
Suffolk County sits inside New York (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 Suffolk County has low food access? ▼
What is the SNAP participation rate in Suffolk County? ▼
What is the poverty rate in Suffolk County? ▼
Is Suffolk County a food desert? ▼
What share of Suffolk 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.