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

Arizona ranks #14 of 50 and sits in the upper third by population-weighted low-access (26.8%), per USDA FARA 2019.

What share of Arizona has low food access?

26.8% of Arizona residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+4.7 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Arizona?

257 census tracts in Arizona are USDA food deserts (~555K low-income low-access residents); ~17.13 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Arizona?

Across Arizona, 10.4% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-1.7 pts vs U.S.) - mid tercile among states.

Which county in Arizona has the worst food access?

Apache County has the highest low-access share at 54.7% (~2.3% of statewide low-access residents), with 30.5% SNAP.

Signature · 257 LILA tracts (17.13/county)

Food access in Arizona

Arizona sits in the upper third nationally on low-access (26.8%, +4.7 pts vs U.S.), with USDA FARA 2019 + ACS 2024 context for 15 counties.

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

26.8%
low-access pop.: 257
food-desert tracts: 10.4%
on SNAP: 15
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State AZ · Arizona

LA-ELEVATED · ABOVE-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-LIGHT · VEH-OK · BOOK-THIN

LA-ELEVATED 26.8% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +4.7 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 257 food-desert tracts
SNAP-LIGHT 10.4% SNAP
VEH-OK 5.4% no vehicle
BOOK-THIN 15 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Hawaii ( -0.1 pts)

Arizona's slim county book (15)

Arizona covers 15 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Arizona vs all states by county count

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

15 43rd of 51 higher than 8 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, Arizona is in the upper third on low-access (26.8%, #14 of 50; ~1.7M residents) - +4.7 pts vs the U.S. mean.

#14
among states by low-access: 1.7M
low-access residents: 555K
food-desert residents: 5.4%
households, no vehicle

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

Arizona among higher low-access states

Arizona ringed at #14 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: 257 LILA tracts (17.13/county) .

Arizona sits in the upper third of states by population-weighted low-access share (26.8% , #14 of 50). The Atlas marks 257 food-desert tracts here (555K low-income low-access residents). Apache County alone holds about 2.3% of the state's low-access residents.

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

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Arizona. 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 (26.8% here).

Hawaii · 26.7% low-access
Tennessee · 27.2% low-access
Kansas · 26.4% low-access
Louisiana · 26.4% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (10.4% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

South Carolina · 10.5% SNAP
Vermont · 10.6% SNAP
Arkansas · 10.2% SNAP
Alaska · 10.7% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
TN

27.2
AZ

26.8
HI

26.7
KS

26.4
LA

26.4
DC

4.6

Apache

54.7
La Paz

53.4
Mohave

45.9
Pinal

45.7
Navajo

44.5
Cochise

43.9
Graham

39.6
Santa Cruz

36.3

All counties in Arizona

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Apache County	65K	54.7%	30.5%	11.5%	30.5%
La Paz County	17K	53.4%	11.6%	4.5%	17.5%
Mohave County	221K	45.9%	13.1%	3.9%	16.1%
Pinal County	469K	45.7%	10.8%	3.9%	11.1%
Navajo County	108K	44.5%	22.2%	8.5%	24.7%
Cochise County	126K	43.9%	14.9%	5.3%	15.4%
Graham County	39K	39.6%	16.3%	5.0%	17.3%
Santa Cruz County	49K	36.3%	23.9%	5.0%	20.2%
Yavapai County	245K	35.8%	8.2%	3.8%	12.0%
Greenlee County	9K	32.9%	5.7%	2.5%	8.2%
Coconino County	145K	32.5%	10.6%	5.6%	16.8%
Pima County	1.1M	28.6%	12.1%	7.1%	14.3%
Gila County	54K	28.2%	14.6%	6.4%	16.9%
Yuma County	212K	24.7%	18.3%	5.5%	15.6%
Maricopa County	4.6M	20.8%	8.6%	5.1%	11.0%

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 Arizona 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.