Where does Alabama rank for food access among U.S. states?

According to USDA FARA (2019), Alabama ranks #26 of 50 by population-weighted low-access share.

What share of Alabama has low food access?

24.5% of Alabama residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+2.4 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Alabama?

267 census tracts in Alabama are USDA food deserts (~419K low-income low-access residents); ~3.99 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Alabama?

Across Alabama, 13.6% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (+1.5 pts vs U.S.) - high tercile among states.

Which county in Alabama has the worst food access?

Bullock County has the highest low-access share at 68.5% (~0.6% of statewide low-access residents), with 34.0% SNAP.

Signature · 267 LILA tracts (3.99/county)

Food access in Alabama

How far Alabama residents live from a supermarket (24.5% low-access), where LILA tracts sit, and SNAP/vehicle context from USDA FARA 2019 + Census ACS 2024.

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

24.5%
low-access pop.: 267
food-desert tracts: 13.6%
on SNAP: 67
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State AL · Alabama

LA-ELEVATED · ABOVE-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-HEAVY · VEH-OK · BOOK-MID

LA-ELEVATED 24.5% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +2.4 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 267 food-desert tracts
SNAP-HEAVY 13.6% SNAP
VEH-OK 5.4% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 67 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Arkansas (+ 0.4 pts)

Where Alabama sits by county inventory

Alabama covers 67 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Alabama vs all states by county count

Where this state's county inventory sits among every tracked jurisdiction

67 22nd of 51 higher than 29 of 51 states

Jurisdictions, banded by county inventory

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USDA Food Access Research Atlas / Census county inventory · 2026-06-23

Mid-band statewide picture

About 1.2M Alabama residents (24.5%) live low-access - #26 of 50, with 267 USDA food-desert tracts.

#26
among states by low-access: 1.2M
low-access residents: 419K
food-desert residents: 5.4%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares. Low access = >1 mile urban / >10 miles rural from a supermarket.

Where Alabama sits on low-access

Alabama ringed at #26 of 50 by population-weighted low-access. Click any state to compare.

USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas (2019), population-weighted · Census ACS 2024 context

Signature read: 267 LILA tracts (3.99/county) .

Alabama is in the middle third nationally on low-access (24.5% , #26 of 50). SNAP averages 13.6% of households (upper SNAP band) and 5.4% have no vehicle , with 267 LILA tracts. County pressure peaks in Bullock County at 68.5%.

Nationwide peers for Alabama's low-access or SNAP share

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Alabama. Neighbourhood chart below is local poles; these panels are full-corpus nearest neighbours excluding this state.

Similar low-access share

Nearest population-weighted low-access rates (24.5% here).

Arkansas · 24.9% low-access
Missouri · 24.9% low-access
Texas · 25.0% low-access
Florida · 25.1% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (13.6% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Illinois · 13.7% SNAP
Michigan · 13.5% SNAP
Mississippi · 13.5% SNAP
Kentucky · 13.2% SNAP

Source: USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) + Census ACS 2024 SNAP. Floor county_count ≥ 5.

NM

31.7
FL

25.1
TX

25
AR

24.9
MO

24.9
AL

24.5
DC

4.6

Bullock

68.5
Wilcox

42
Macon

41.9
Etowah

40.7
Perry

39.5
Clarke

39.4
Lowndes

39
Calhoun

35.9

All counties in Alabama

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Bullock County	10K	68.5%	34.0%	10.0%	33.3%
Wilcox County	10K	42.0%	37.0%	10.4%	28.2%
Macon County	19K	41.9%	24.1%	9.5%	24.3%
Etowah County	103K	40.7%	15.7%	4.4%	16.9%
Perry County	8K	39.5%	33.5%	8.0%	31.4%
Clarke County	23K	39.4%	23.5%	11.6%	20.1%
Lowndes County	10K	39.0%	28.9%	8.8%	29.9%
Calhoun County	116K	35.9%	17.9%	6.4%	17.9%
Madison County	406K	34.8%	7.6%	4.0%	10.1%
Jefferson County	668K	34.4%	14.2%	7.0%	15.7%
Shelby County	230K	34.4%	4.6%	2.5%	7.2%
Autauga County	60K	33.9%	9.2%	4.1%	11.3%
Lee County	181K	33.6%	10.0%	4.8%	18.9%
Colbert County	58K	32.9%	14.5%	4.6%	17.4%
Greene County	7K	32.8%	31.9%	13.3%	40.1%
Coffee County	55K	32.2%	11.5%	4.0%	16.7%
Crenshaw County	13K	29.5%	20.8%	7.3%	17.9%
Randolph County	23K	29.3%	18.8%	4.4%	19.9%
Montgomery County	227K	27.7%	20.2%	6.6%	19.9%
Marengo County	19K	27.6%	23.6%	10.2%	21.9%
Conecuh County	11K	26.4%	20.0%	5.8%	27.8%
Baldwin County	247K	25.1%	6.7%	2.7%	10.1%
Mobile County	413K	25.0%	17.3%	6.0%	16.2%
Choctaw County	12K	24.3%	15.7%	8.8%	16.5%
Pike County	33K	23.2%	17.1%	5.7%	23.3%
Dale County	50K	23.1%	18.4%	5.7%	18.7%
Henry County	18K	22.9%	14.1%	7.5%	18.3%
Coosa County	10K	22.6%	16.2%	6.0%	13.1%
Morgan County	124K	22.6%	12.2%	4.8%	13.5%
Marshall County	100K	22.3%	12.4%	4.4%	16.6%
Tuscaloosa County	238K	21.5%	10.9%	5.8%	16.8%
Barbour County	25K	20.5%	21.3%	10.5%	21.4%
Chambers County	34K	19.7%	16.3%	7.3%	15.7%
Elmore County	90K	19.0%	10.5%	3.4%	10.3%
Monroe County	19K	18.6%	14.0%	4.3%	20.1%
Talladega County	81K	18.6%	17.0%	6.9%	17.8%
Sumter County	12K	18.0%	30.5%	9.5%	26.5%
Limestone County	111K	17.1%	8.8%	3.5%	10.0%
Lauderdale County	96K	17.0%	10.0%	5.1%	12.2%
Dallas County	37K	15.2%	36.2%	14.1%	31.0%
Hale County	15K	15.2%	27.8%	11.2%	24.6%
Russell County	59K	14.9%	20.1%	8.0%	22.2%
Franklin County	32K	14.2%	20.0%	7.7%	19.1%
Houston County	108K	14.2%	16.1%	6.8%	17.5%
Cherokee County	25K	13.5%	11.0%	2.8%	14.8%
Covington County	38K	12.9%	14.2%	6.2%	19.2%
Lawrence County	33K	12.4%	15.1%	4.4%	13.3%
Butler County	19K	12.0%	17.3%	5.9%	22.4%
Washington County	15K	11.2%	13.8%	5.1%	17.1%
Escambia County	37K	10.6%	15.2%	5.7%	20.0%
Jackson County	53K	10.6%	12.3%	4.9%	17.3%
Chilton County	46K	10.2%	14.6%	2.6%	14.0%
St. Clair County	94K	9.7%	11.0%	3.0%	11.4%
Walker County	65K	8.6%	14.3%	5.0%	18.5%
Cullman County	91K	8.4%	10.0%	3.2%	15.3%
Geneva County	27K	8.4%	18.3%	6.0%	19.2%
Tallapoosa County	41K	7.5%	13.3%	5.8%	16.3%
Clay County	14K	7.0%	14.2%	5.8%	17.6%
Blount County	60K	6.8%	12.3%	4.0%	12.9%
Cleburne County	15K	6.0%	14.5%	5.6%	13.7%
Pickens County	19K	4.2%	18.5%	7.1%	20.0%
Winston County	24K	4.2%	14.6%	4.9%	18.7%
Marion County	29K	3.0%	17.3%	4.2%	16.2%
Bibb County	22K	1.6%	20.7%	5.4%	22.5%
Fayette County	16K	0.9%	18.0%	7.6%	21.8%
Lamar County	14K	0.6%	20.5%	6.1%	18.0%
DeKalb County	72K	0.0%	17.7%	4.2%	22.4%

Source: USDA ERS Food Access Research Atlas (2019) + U.S. Census Bureau ACS (2024 5-year). Sorted by low-access share, highest first.

Figures from USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and Census ACS 2024 5-year. Compiled 2026-06-23. Methodology · All states.

PlainFoodAccess renders this state summary directly from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates), no number is typed in by an editor. Statewide figures for Alabama are population-weighted aggregates of county Atlas and ACS records. 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.