State food-access profile · 67 counties

Food access in Alabama

How far Alabama residents live from a supermarket, where the food deserts are, and the SNAP, poverty, and vehicle-access context, from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and the Census ACS (2024).

Compiled by Plainfoodaccess, Food Access Editorial Process · June 23, 2026

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

The statewide picture

About 1.2M Alabama residents - 24.5% - live in a low-access area, and 267 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

1.2M
low-access residents: 419K
food-desert residents: 5.4%
households, no vehicle: 15.6%
below poverty line

Shares are population-weighted across the state's tracts, not an average of county percentages. Low access = >1 mile (urban) / >10 miles (rural) from a supermarket.

Where Alabama stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Alabama is ringed. Click any state to compare.

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

The USDA Food Access Research Atlas evaluates every census tract in Alabama against the same rule used nationwide: a tract is low-access when many residents live more than one mile from a supermarket in urban areas, or more than ten miles in rural areas. Across 67 counties and 5.1M residents, Alabama's population-weighted low-access share is 24.5%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 267 tracts in Alabama, home to roughly 419K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 13.6% of households, and 5.4% of households have no vehicle, the transport gap that turns distance into a real barrier. The county table below is sorted with the highest low-access share first, so the top rows are where distance, income, and vehicle gaps most consistently overlap.

Counties

24.5%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

1.2M

Low-access residents

13.6%

Avg. SNAP

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

What this means for the state

24.5% of Alabama residents, about 1.2M people, live in a low-access area.
267 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 419K low-income, low-access residents.
13.6% of households receive SNAP, and 5.4% have no vehicle.
Bullock County has the state's highest low-access share at 68.5%.

USDA low-access figures reflect the 2019 Atlas (2010 tract populations); SNAP, poverty, and vehicle context is the Census ACS 2024 5-year estimates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What share of Alabama has low food access?▼

24.5% of Alabama residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted across the state's tracts), per the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019).

How many food deserts are in Alabama?▼

267 census tracts in Alabama are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 419K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Alabama?▼

Across Alabama counties, an average of 13.6% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Alabama has the worst food access?▼

Bullock County has the highest low-access share in Alabama at 68.5%, with 34.0% SNAP participation.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service Food Access Research Atlas (2019 edition), 9,228 of roughly 71,700 U.S. census tracts meet the low-income, low-access food-desert threshold. The state and county figures on this page are aggregated from that tract-level data and joined to the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024 5-Year Estimates, released in December 2025. See our methodology for how the population-weighted shares are computed.

Data current as of 2026-06-23 (most recent source-data vintage).

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