PlainFoodAccess

State food-access profile · 30 counties

Food access in Alaska

How far Alaska 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).

30.9%
low-access pop.
33
food-desert tracts
10.7%
on SNAP
30
counties

The statewide picture

About 217K Alaska residents - 30.9% - live in a low-access area, and 33 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

217K
low-access residents
55K
food-desert residents
10.2%
households, no vehicle
10.1%
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 Alaska stands nationally

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

AK 31 ME 13 VT 11 NH 28 WA 23 ID 26 MT 22 ND 29 MN 27 IL 20 WI 21 MI 23 NY 12 RI 24 MA 28 OR 17 NV 23 WY 30 SD 29 IA 20 IN 29 OH 25 PA 21 NJ 24 CT - CA 13 UT 24 CO 22 NE 22 MO 25 KY 20 WV 21 VA 20 MD 23 DE 27 AZ 27 NM 32 KS 26 AR 25 TN 27 NC 23 SC 29 DC 5 OK 25 LA 26 MS 26 AL 25 GA 31 HI 27 TX 25 FL 25

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 Alaska 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 30 counties and 736K residents, Alaska's population-weighted low-access share is 30.9%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 33 tracts in Alaska, home to roughly 55K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 10.7% of households, and 10.2% 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.

30
Counties
30.9%
Low-access (pop-weighted)
217K
Low-access residents
10.7%
Avg. SNAP

Highest low-access counties in Alaska

Share of the population living in low-access areas, by county

% low-access
Source USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas As of 2019 edition

All counties in Alaska

County Low-accessSNAP
Denali Borough 100.0% 3.0%
Lake and Peninsula Borough 100.0% 29.3%
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area 99.4% 16.7%
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area 89.6% 22.4%
Bethel Census Area 68.6% 42.4%
Bristol Bay Borough 56.3% 5.2%
Dillingham Census Area 50.8% 27.9%
Northwest Arctic Borough 46.2% 35.8%
Kodiak Island Borough 42.7% 5.8%
Aleutians East Borough 39.0% 14.5%
Fairbanks North Star Borough 38.7% 6.8%
North Slope Borough 37.9% 14.0%
Sitka City and Borough 34.5% 7.5%
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area 29.7% 8.6%
Matanuska-Susitna Borough 28.9% 9.4%
Anchorage Municipality 28.4% 8.7%
Kenai Peninsula Borough 23.7% 9.6%
Nome Census Area 23.1% 29.4%
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area 22.7% 16.4%
Aleutians West Census Area 21.4% 4.8%
Wrangell City and Borough 21.4% 8.5%
Haines Borough 20.7% 4.7%
Juneau City and Borough 20.7% 6.4%
Petersburg Borough 4.4% 7.6%
Ketchikan Gateway Borough 1.6% 8.3%
Skagway Municipality 0.3% 2.7%
Yakutat City and Borough 0.3% 5.3%
Kusilvak Census Area 0.0% 51.4%
Chugach Census Area N/A 9.8%
Copper River Census Area N/A 12.8%

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

  • 30.9% of Alaska residents, about 217K people, live in a low-access area.
  • 33 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 55K low-income, low-access residents.
  • 10.7% of households receive SNAP, and 10.2% have no vehicle.
  • Denali Borough has the state's highest low-access share at 100.0%.

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 Alaska has low food access?▼
30.9% of Alaska 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 Alaska?▼
33 census tracts in Alaska are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 55K low-income residents.
What is the SNAP participation rate in Alaska?▼
Across Alaska counties, an average of 10.7% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.
Which county in Alaska has the worst food access?▼
Denali Borough has the highest low-access share in Alaska at 100.0%, with 3.0% 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 (most recent source-data vintage).

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