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

Alaska ranks #2 of 50 and sits in the upper third by population-weighted low-access (30.9%), per USDA FARA 2019.

What share of Alaska has low food access?

30.9% of Alaska residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+8.8 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Alaska?

33 census tracts in Alaska are USDA food deserts (~55K low-income low-access residents); ~1.1 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Alaska?

Across Alaska, 10.7% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-1.4 pts vs U.S.) - mid tercile among states.

Which county in Alaska has the worst food access?

Denali Borough has the highest low-access share at 100.0% (~0.8% of statewide low-access residents), with 3.0% SNAP.

Signature · 30.9% low-access (#2 of 50)

Food access in Alaska

Alaska sits in the upper third nationally on low-access (30.9%, +8.8 pts vs U.S.), with USDA FARA 2019 + ACS 2024 context for 30 counties.

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

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

USDA FARA state access plate

State AK · Alaska

LA-ELEVATED · ABOVE-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-TYPICAL · VEH-GAP · BOOK-LIGHT

LA-ELEVATED 30.9% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +8.8 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 33 food-desert tracts
SNAP-TYPICAL 10.7% SNAP
VEH-GAP 10.2% no vehicle
BOOK-LIGHT 30 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Georgia (+ 0.0 pts)

Alaska's slim county book (30)

Alaska covers 30 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Alaska vs all states by county count

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

30 36th of 51 higher than 15 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

Upper-band statewide picture

According to USDA FARA, Alaska is in the upper third on low-access (30.9%, #2 of 50; ~217K residents) - +8.8 pts vs the U.S. mean.

#2
among states by low-access: 217K
low-access residents: 55K
food-desert residents: 10.2%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares (not a county average). Upper-band states often pair elevated low-access with clustered LILA tracts.

Alaska on the national low-access cartogram

Alaska ringed at #2 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: 30.9% low-access (#2 of 50) (+8.8 pts vs U.S. low-access).

Alaska sits in the upper third of states by population-weighted low-access share (30.9% , #2 of 50). The Atlas marks 33 food-desert tracts here (55K low-income low-access residents). Denali Borough alone holds about 0.8% of the state's low-access residents.

States near Alaska's elevated low-access or SNAP band

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Alaska. 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 (30.9% here).

Georgia · 30.9% low-access
New Mexico · 31.7% low-access
Wyoming · 29.7% low-access
South Dakota · 29.1% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (10.7% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Vermont · 10.6% SNAP
Tennessee · 10.8% SNAP
South Carolina · 10.5% SNAP
Maryland · 10.9% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
AK

30.9
GA

30.9
WY

29.7
SD

29.1
DC

4.6

Denali Borough

100
Lake and Peninsula Borough

100
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area

99.4
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area

89.6
Bethel Census Area

68.6
Bristol Bay Borough

56.3
Dillingham Census Area

50.8
Northwest Arctic Borough

46.2

All counties in Alaska

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Denali Borough	2K	100.0%	3.0%	12.4%	8.3%
Lake and Peninsula Borough	1K	100.0%	29.3%	43.5%	12.8%
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	2K	99.4%	16.7%	28.6%	14.2%
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	5K	89.6%	22.4%	37.0%	16.0%
Bethel Census Area	18K	68.6%	42.4%	57.7%	25.6%
Bristol Bay Borough	918	56.3%	5.2%	7.6%	9.3%
Dillingham Census Area	5K	50.8%	27.9%	35.4%	19.5%
Northwest Arctic Borough	7K	46.2%	35.8%	64.6%	17.9%
Kodiak Island Borough	13K	42.7%	5.8%	7.6%	8.7%
Aleutians East Borough	3K	39.0%	14.5%	22.1%	13.2%
Fairbanks North Star Borough	95K	38.7%	6.8%	4.6%	6.1%
North Slope Borough	11K	37.9%	14.0%	37.0%	11.1%
Sitka City and Borough	8K	34.5%	7.5%	11.0%	7.5%
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	7K	29.7%	8.6%	6.6%	12.7%
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	113K	28.9%	9.4%	3.8%	10.0%
Anchorage Municipality	289K	28.4%	8.7%	5.9%	8.9%
Kenai Peninsula Borough	60K	23.7%	9.6%	4.9%	11.8%
Nome Census Area	10K	23.1%	29.4%	55.9%	21.5%
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	6K	22.7%	16.4%	10.8%	12.7%
Aleutians West Census Area	5K	21.4%	4.8%	5.3%	11.3%
Wrangell City and Borough	2K	21.4%	8.5%	8.7%	12.1%
Haines Borough	2K	20.7%	4.7%	4.0%	5.4%
Juneau City and Borough	32K	20.7%	6.4%	9.5%	8.9%
Petersburg Borough	3K	4.4%	7.6%	11.1%	7.0%
Ketchikan Gateway Borough	14K	1.6%	8.3%	10.5%	8.7%
Skagway Municipality	1K	0.3%	2.7%	10.0%	5.9%
Yakutat City and Borough	527	0.3%	5.3%	13.6%	11.9%
Kusilvak Census Area	8K	0.0%	51.4%	82.9%	32.4%
Chugach Census Area ACS only, no Atlas low-access figure	7K	Not in Atlas	9.8%	6.7%	5.9%
Copper River Census Area ACS only, no Atlas low-access figure	3K	Not in Atlas	12.8%	6.0%	8.7%

Not in Atlas: USDA published no low-access figure for this geography (the 2019 Atlas predates its current boundaries). ACS figures are shown; the blank is unavailable, not zero. Listed last in this table: Chugach Census Area, Copper River Census Area.

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 Alaska 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.