County ranking · Census ACS 2024

Highest SNAP participation by county

Name: Highest SNAP Participation by County, U.S. Rankings
Creator: PlainFoodAccess
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

The 100 U.S. counties where the largest share of households receive SNAP, the federal nutrition program, and how that maps onto food-access conditions. From the Census American Community Survey.

Compiled by Plainfoodaccess, Food Access Editorial Process · December 31, 2024

12.1%
U.S. average SNAP: 51.4%
highest county: 3,144
counties ranked

SNAP share is not low-access share

According to the USDA Economic Research Service Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024), Nye County, NV is #1 of 1,795 by low-access share (87.1%) at SNAP rank 965 of 3,139 (14.9%) ≠ Kusilvak Census Area, AK #1 SNAP at 51.4% at 0.0% low-access, outside the 20,000-resident low-access ranking.

87.1%
Nye County, NV low-access (#1): #965
Nye County, NV SNAP rank: 51.4%
Kusilvak Census Area, AK SNAP (#1): 8,176
Kusilvak Census Area, AK residents (under floor)

Low-access ranking uses counties with at least 20,000 residents. SNAP ranking includes every county with a SNAP rate. USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and Census ACS 2024 5-year estimates.

How SNAP participation is measured

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service and operated state-by-state. Counties do not publish SNAP enrollment directly. Instead, the Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates ask a sample of households whether anyone received SNAP benefits in the previous 12 months, and the survey weights that response to produce a county-level estimate. The "SNAP %" column on this ranking is the share of households with at least one SNAP recipient over the previous 12 months, drawn from Census Table B22010 and aligned to the USDA Food Access Research Atlas county geography.

High-SNAP counties on this extract open with Kusilvak Census Area, AK at 51.4% SNAP and Oglala Lakota County, SD next. Starr County, TX is the first county at or above 20,000 residents. The Mississippi Delta still carries high SNAP rates, but it does not occupy #1. SNAP share and low-access share are different maps: Kusilvak Census Area sits at 0.0% low-access, while the low-access ranking uses a 20,000-resident floor.

SNAP participation is one of the cleanest practical proxies for food insecurity at the county level. It is the same low-income signal the USDA layers on top of distance-to-supermarket to designate a "food desert" tract. That is why this ranking surfaces three additional columns alongside the SNAP rate: the official Census poverty rate, the share of population living in a USDA low-access tract, and the total number of SNAP households in absolute terms. A county that combines a high SNAP rate with a high low-access share is the canonical food desert profile, and that overlap is the actionable signal local agencies use to site supermarkets, subsidize SNAP-accepting retailers, or expand mobile food markets.

SNAP eligibility rules vary slightly by state, especially around asset tests and broad-based categorical eligibility. That state-level variation explains some of the spread between otherwise similar counties on either side of a state line. To read a single county in context, the per-county detail pages linked from the table below break out income, poverty, no-vehicle households, and low-access tracts on the same row as the SNAP figure, which lets a researcher reproduce the food desert overlap without leaving the page. The data citation at the bottom of this page lists every upstream URL.

Reading SNAP participation alongside the absolute SNAP household count is also useful, because a small rural county at sixty-percent SNAP participation may still have fewer total SNAP households than a large suburban county at twelve-percent participation. That distinction matters when local agencies design outreach and benefits-access programs: the percentage column flags how saturated a community is with the program, while the absolute count flags how many households the operational footprint needs to serve. Counties near the top of this list with both a high participation rate and a high absolute count are the largest leverage points for SNAP-accepting retailer expansion and for evaluating whether nearby supermarkets are equipped to process SNAP electronic benefit transfer transactions efficiently. The combination of percentage, absolute count, low-access overlap, and poverty rate on the same row is the canonical view food-policy researchers and state SNAP administrators use to identify counties where the program is doing the most work to close the food access gap.

Comparing this list to the worst-food-deserts ranking is instructive. The two lists overlap heavily but not perfectly. Counties that score high on both rankings are the canonical food desert profile: poverty, SNAP saturation, and structural distance to grocery stores reinforce each other. Counties that score high on SNAP but moderate on low-access tend to be dense urban tracts where supermarkets fall inside the one-mile urban threshold even though household incomes are low – the food access problem is more about price and product mix than geographic distance. Counties that score high on low-access but moderate on SNAP tend to be sparsely populated rural counties where the ten-mile threshold catches a wide swath of the land area but the resident population is small and stable enough that absolute SNAP household counts stay manageable. Reading the two rankings side by side is the cleanest way to distinguish a rural-distance food access problem from a low-income urban food access problem, and the per-county detail pages linked from the table below surface the indicators needed to make that distinction without leaving PlainFoodAccess.

Kusilvak Census Area, AK

51.4
Oglala Lakota, SD

49.5
Starr, TX

42.5
Bethel Census Area, AK

42.4
Guadalupe, NM

40.7
Zavala, TX

40.6
Todd, SD

40.2
Randolph, GA

39.4
Bronx, NY

38.6
Owsley, KY

37.8
McKinley, NM

37.7
Magoffin, KY

37.2
Wilcox, AL

37
Sioux, ND

36.8
Wolfe, KY

36.5

What this shows Kusilvak Census Area, AK leads this SNAP ranking. That SNAP list is not the low-access list; the two rankings diverge at #1. The full 100-county table follows.

#	County	State	Population	SNAP	Households	Poverty	Low-access
1	Kusilvak Census AreaAlaska	AK	8K	51.4%	984	32.4%	0.0%
2	Oglala Lakota CountySouth Dakota	SD	13K	49.5%	1,446	57.6%	0.0%
3	Starr CountyTexas	TX	66K	42.5%	8,146	33.5%	33.9%
4	Bethel Census AreaAlaska	AK	18K	42.4%	2,047	25.6%	68.6%
5	Guadalupe CountyNew Mexico	NM	4K	40.7%	606	25.5%	28.5%
6	Zavala CountyTexas	TX	9K	40.6%	1,329	33.9%	31.6%
7	Todd CountySouth Dakota	SD	9K	40.2%	1,023	48.4%	17.0%
8	Randolph CountyGeorgia	GA	6K	39.4%	1,059	30.0%	33.8%
9	Bronx CountyNew York	NY	1.4M	38.6%	206,275	27.8%	0.6%
10	Owsley CountyKentucky	KY	4K	37.8%	593	36.1%	2.3%
11	McKinley CountyNew Mexico	NM	70K	37.7%	8,047	33.2%	54.7%
12	Magoffin CountyKentucky	KY	11K	37.2%	1,759	38.2%	2.4%
13	Wilcox CountyAlabama	AL	10K	37.0%	1,427	28.2%	42.0%
14	Sioux CountyNorth Dakota	ND	4K	36.8%	409	43.3%	40.3%
15	Wolfe CountyKentucky	KY	6K	36.5%	976	37.7%	5.6%
16	McDowell CountyWest Virginia	WV	18K	36.5%	2,360	34.2%	3.3%
17	Mingo CountyWest Virginia	WV	23K	36.5%	3,397	32.4%	9.9%
18	Dallas CountyAlabama	AL	37K	36.2%	5,765	31.0%	15.2%
19	Northwest Arctic BoroughAlaska	AK	7K	35.8%	654	17.9%	46.2%
20	Brooks CountyTexas	TX	7K	35.7%	1,062	19.4%	17.7%
21	Hancock CountyTennessee	TN	7K	34.8%	984	32.2%	1.1%
22	Clay CountyKentucky	KY	20K	34.7%	2,528	32.4%	25.2%
23	Breathitt CountyKentucky	KY	13K	34.5%	1,885	33.1%	21.6%
24	Calhoun CountyGeorgia	GA	5K	34.3%	546	22.8%	13.8%
25	Taylor CountyGeorgia	GA	8K	34.1%	1,085	32.1%	4.2%
26	Emporia cityVirginia	VA	6K	34.1%	736	15.8%	3.4%
27	Bullock CountyAlabama	AL	10K	34.0%	1,255	33.3%	68.5%
28	Washington CountyNorth Carolina	NC	11K	33.9%	1,608	24.1%	1.4%
29	Claiborne ParishLouisiana	LA	14K	33.8%	1,743	32.0%	17.3%
30	Anson CountyNorth Carolina	NC	22K	33.8%	2,889	21.7%	8.4%
31	Stewart CountyGeorgia	GA	5K	33.7%	597	26.4%	18.6%
32	Perry CountyAlabama	AL	8K	33.5%	1,151	31.4%	39.5%
33	McCreary CountyKentucky	KY	17K	33.3%	1,954	38.9%	2.8%
34	Sunflower CountyMississippi	MS	24K	33.1%	2,657	28.9%	36.2%
35	Holmes CountyMississippi	MS	16K	33.0%	2,032	36.4%	25.3%
36	Robeson CountyNorth Carolina	NC	117K	32.6%	14,065	27.2%	8.5%
37	Clay CountyWest Virginia	WV	8K	32.6%	969	26.4%	18.4%
38	Webster CountyWest Virginia	WV	8K	32.6%	944	23.3%	5.0%
39	Turner CountyGeorgia	GA	9K	32.5%	1,071	20.3%	20.4%
40	Phillips CountyArkansas	AR	15K	32.1%	1,934	29.3%	36.1%
41	Greene CountyAlabama	AL	7K	31.9%	1,029	40.1%	32.8%
42	Knox CountyKentucky	KY	30K	31.9%	3,730	36.9%	27.9%
43	Willacy CountyTexas	TX	20K	31.9%	1,813	24.0%	43.2%
44	Tensas ParishLouisiana	LA	4K	31.8%	502	34.4%	58.9%
45	Lake CountyTennessee	TN	7K	31.8%	657	32.2%	0.2%
46	Scotland CountyNorth Carolina	NC	34K	31.6%	3,980	25.8%	20.8%
47	Noxubee CountyMississippi	MS	10K	31.3%	1,235	26.3%	16.1%
48	Zapata CountyTexas	TX	14K	31.3%	1,430	38.4%	16.8%
49	Evangeline ParishLouisiana	LA	32K	31.2%	3,917	24.3%	9.5%
50	Jim Hogg CountyTexas	TX	5K	30.8%	394	31.4%	34.9%
51	St. Helena ParishLouisiana	LA	11K	30.7%	1,281	32.4%	6.0%
52	Pemiscot CountyMissouri	MO	15K	30.7%	1,947	29.6%	10.4%
53	Jackson CountyKentucky	KY	13K	30.6%	1,565	19.5%	8.1%
54	Sumter CountyAlabama	AL	12K	30.5%	1,471	26.5%	18.0%
55	Apache CountyArizona	AZ	65K	30.5%	6,428	30.5%	54.7%
56	Quay CountyNew Mexico	NM	9K	30.5%	1,340	27.1%	38.0%
57	Madison ParishLouisiana	LA	10K	30.4%	929	34.5%	5.7%
58	Luna CountyNew Mexico	NM	26K	30.1%	2,776	28.6%	37.4%
59	Morehouse ParishLouisiana	LA	25K	30.0%	2,932	29.3%	22.9%
60	Hancock CountyGeorgia	GA	9K	29.8%	871	30.6%	55.8%
61	Cottle CountyTexas	TX	1K	29.8%	172	17.1%	100.0%
62	Norton cityVirginia	VA	4K	29.7%	477	26.3%	39.6%
63	East Carroll ParishLouisiana	LA	7K	29.6%	775	35.2%	33.6%
64	Nome Census AreaAlaska	AK	10K	29.4%	828	21.5%	23.1%
65	Washington CountyGeorgia	GA	20K	29.4%	2,157	17.2%	29.8%
66	Lake and Peninsula BoroughAlaska	AK	1K	29.3%	95	12.8%	100.0%
67	Martin CountyKentucky	KY	11K	29.2%	1,125	33.2%	2.0%
68	San Miguel CountyNew Mexico	NM	27K	29.2%	3,486	24.4%	45.4%
69	Costilla CountyColorado	CO	4K	29.1%	481	21.0%	100.0%
70	Leslie CountyKentucky	KY	10K	29.1%	1,232	30.3%	8.4%
71	Halifax CountyNorth Carolina	NC	48K	29.1%	5,922	22.8%	10.8%
72	Dougherty CountyGeorgia	GA	83K	29.0%	9,925	25.0%	42.9%
73	Lowndes CountyAlabama	AL	10K	28.9%	1,237	29.9%	39.0%
74	Imperial CountyCalifornia	CA	180K	28.7%	14,225	19.5%	17.6%
75	Webster CountyGeorgia	GA	2K	28.7%	242	22.3%	2.0%
76	Lee CountyKentucky	KY	7K	28.7%	745	27.4%	0.0%
77	Allendale CountySouth Carolina	SC	8K	28.7%	928	28.2%	2.3%
78	Maverick CountyTexas	TX	58K	28.7%	5,191	22.8%	30.8%
79	Alamosa CountyColorado	CO	17K	28.6%	1,900	17.2%	27.7%
80	Hamilton CountyFlorida	FL	14K	28.6%	1,225	20.1%	18.6%
81	Perry CountyKentucky	KY	27K	28.6%	3,168	26.8%	1.1%
82	Richmond CountyNorth Carolina	NC	42K	28.6%	4,868	25.2%	22.7%
83	Franklin cityVirginia	VA	8K	28.5%	983	19.3%	63.5%
84	Humphreys CountyMississippi	MS	7K	28.4%	823	27.0%	18.5%
85	Tunica CountyMississippi	MS	9K	28.3%	1,077	31.1%	15.5%
86	Malheur CountyOregon	OR	32K	28.3%	2,916	17.6%	8.9%
87	Washington ParishLouisiana	LA	45K	28.2%	4,989	24.3%	8.4%
88	Lee CountyVirginia	VA	22K	28.2%	2,407	28.8%	0.0%
89	Leflore CountyMississippi	MS	27K	28.1%	2,866	31.5%	29.1%
90	Dillingham Census AreaAlaska	AK	5K	27.9%	391	19.5%	50.8%
91	Telfair CountyGeorgia	GA	12K	27.9%	935	24.1%	37.4%
92	Avoyelles ParishLouisiana	LA	39K	27.9%	4,032	27.8%	20.5%
93	Logan CountyWest Virginia	WV	31K	27.9%	3,566	21.8%	6.8%
94	Hale CountyAlabama	AL	15K	27.8%	1,568	24.6%	15.2%
95	Lee CountyArkansas	AR	8K	27.8%	748	39.4%	44.6%
96	Esmeralda CountyNevada	NV	1K	27.8%	140	12.4%	97.2%
97	Hertford CountyNorth Carolina	NC	20K	27.8%	2,305	22.9%	22.4%
98	Hidalgo CountyTexas	TX	892K	27.8%	75,177	26.7%	34.7%
99	Cumberland CountyKentucky	KY	6K	27.6%	725	24.8%	1.9%
100	Letcher CountyKentucky	KY	21K	27.5%	2,331	24.4%	0.0%

The bar beside each SNAP value scales to 100%. Showing the top 100 of 3,144 U.S. counties.

Food Desert Rankings → Browse by State →

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey

Figures reflect Census ACS 2024 5-year SNAP participation estimates. Page compiled 2026-06-23.

PlainFoodAccess ranks counties from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates); ordinals are computed, not hand-edited, no number is typed in by an editor. This ranking sorts all mapped counties by Census ACS SNAP participation rate. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-06-23. Primary sources: USDA Food Access Research Atlas and Census ACS 5-year estimates.