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

Colorado ranks #37 of 50 in the lower third on low-access (21.5%), same basis as the national cartogram.

What share of Colorado has low food access?

21.5% of Colorado residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (-0.6 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Colorado?

173 census tracts in Colorado are USDA food deserts (~254K low-income low-access residents); ~2.7 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Colorado?

Across Colorado, 8.5% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-3.6 pts vs U.S.) - low tercile among states.

Which county in Colorado has the worst food access?

Costilla County has the highest low-access share at 100.0% (~0.3% of statewide low-access residents), with 29.1% SNAP.

Signature · 8.5% SNAP (21st pct among states)

Food access in Colorado

Colorado lands in the lower third on population-weighted low-access (21.5%), so distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band - county pages still show local pockets.

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

21.5%
low-access pop.: 173
food-desert tracts: 8.5%
on SNAP: 64
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State CO · Colorado

LA-ELEVATED · PHOTO-FINISH · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-LIGHT · VEH-OK · BOOK-MID

LA-ELEVATED 21.5% low-access
PHOTO-FINISH -0.6 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 173 food-desert tracts
SNAP-LIGHT 8.5% SNAP
VEH-OK 5.1% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 64 counties

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

Where Colorado sits by county inventory

Colorado covers 64 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Colorado vs all states by county count

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

64 25th of 51 higher than 26 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

Lower-band statewide picture

Colorado stays in the lower third nationally (21.5%, #37 of 50) with ~1.1M low-access residents and 173 LILA tracts.

#37
among states by low-access: 1.1M
low-access residents: 254K
food-desert residents: 5.1%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares. Lower-band statewide means still leave county outliers on the table below.

Colorado among lower low-access states

Colorado ringed at #37 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: 8.5% SNAP (21st pct among states) (-3.6 pts vs U.S. SNAP) .

Colorado lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (21.5% , #37 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Costilla County still reaches 100.0% locally while SNAP sits at 8.5% .

States near Colorado's lower low-access or SNAP band

SNAP-led peer set first for Colorado (8.5%), with low-access neighbours deduped against it.

Similar low-access share

Nearest population-weighted low-access rates (21.5% here).

Pennsylvania · 21.4% low-access
Wisconsin · 21.4% low-access
West Virginia · 21.3% low-access
Nebraska · 21.9% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (8.5% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

South Dakota · 8.4% SNAP
Iowa · 8.8% SNAP
Virginia · 8.9% SNAP
Indiana · 9.0% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
NE

21.9
CO

21.5
PA

21.4
WI

21.4
WV

21.3
DC

4.6

Costilla

100
Dolores

100
Kiowa

100
San Juan

99.2
Park

53.9
Fremont

51.6
Washington

51.6
Lake

45.2

All counties in Colorado

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Costilla County	4K	100.0%	29.1%	5.4%	21.0%
Dolores County	2K	100.0%	7.4%	7.1%	21.6%
Kiowa County	1K	100.0%	15.7%	3.1%	11.8%
San Juan County	724	99.2%	8.5%	2.5%	21.3%
Park County	18K	53.9%	3.7%	2.6%	5.0%
Fremont County	50K	51.6%	16.0%	4.5%	13.3%
Washington County	5K	51.6%	11.1%	5.2%	8.1%
Lake County	7K	45.2%	7.6%	4.1%	7.9%
Moffat County	13K	42.1%	12.0%	4.6%	8.4%
Pueblo County	169K	41.6%	19.7%	6.9%	14.6%
Archuleta County	14K	40.9%	6.9%	3.6%	8.2%
Broomfield County	76K	37.8%	3.8%	3.8%	6.2%
Huerfano County	7K	36.3%	19.0%	3.2%	17.3%
Cheyenne County	2K	33.9%	8.8%	0.3%	8.2%
Saguache County	7K	33.8%	24.1%	3.7%	17.8%
Mesa County	159K	32.5%	11.3%	6.0%	10.7%
Las Animas County	14K	31.8%	20.3%	7.1%	18.7%
Prowers County	12K	29.9%	20.1%	7.0%	18.2%
El Paso County	743K	28.5%	9.3%	3.8%	8.5%
Alamosa County	17K	27.7%	28.6%	7.9%	17.2%
Jackson County	1K	27.4%	15.7%	3.2%	14.6%
Douglas County	377K	27.3%	2.1%	2.4%	3.8%
Elbert County	28K	26.5%	3.9%	1.3%	5.3%
Kit Carson County	7K	26.2%	10.5%	5.9%	9.8%
Baca County	3K	25.2%	21.3%	5.5%	24.6%
Custer County	5K	24.3%	7.6%	4.5%	12.7%
Logan County	21K	24.2%	18.0%	6.9%	15.8%
Larimer County	367K	23.3%	7.7%	3.6%	11.2%
Jefferson County	579K	23.2%	5.5%	4.0%	6.7%
Weld County	350K	23.1%	9.1%	3.6%	9.6%
Lincoln County	6K	22.9%	12.3%	4.9%	9.8%
Yuma County	10K	22.9%	13.3%	5.4%	17.9%
Montrose County	44K	22.0%	11.2%	3.6%	11.5%
Sedgwick County	2K	18.6%	18.8%	4.5%	13.0%
Adams County	530K	17.9%	10.3%	4.7%	9.8%
Teller County	25K	17.7%	10.9%	3.1%	7.6%
Garfield County	62K	17.6%	8.0%	5.2%	8.2%
Rio Grande County	11K	17.6%	17.0%	7.2%	18.0%
Boulder County	329K	17.1%	5.9%	5.2%	11.2%
Eagle County	55K	15.8%	3.8%	5.3%	8.7%
Morgan County	30K	15.0%	16.0%	6.5%	14.3%
La Plata County	56K	14.8%	8.7%	2.7%	11.7%
Montezuma County	26K	14.4%	11.9%	5.0%	13.3%
Arapahoe County	660K	13.6%	7.7%	5.3%	8.6%
Mineral County	729	12.8%	7.8%	3.6%	10.0%
Bent County	6K	12.4%	21.4%	3.1%	28.4%
Clear Creek County	9K	12.3%	6.0%	4.4%	6.4%
Routt County	25K	12.1%	5.1%	1.7%	5.2%
Hinsdale County	1K	11.8%	12.3%	1.6%	4.1%
Otero County	18K	11.2%	21.8%	7.6%	22.1%
Chaffee County	20K	10.8%	7.0%	1.7%	8.3%
Denver County	719K	10.8%	8.8%	10.3%	11.2%
Gunnison County	17K	9.8%	7.6%	2.4%	11.3%
San Miguel County	8K	9.8%	3.6%	12.9%	9.3%
Summit County	31K	9.4%	1.7%	2.2%	7.7%
Pitkin County	17K	9.1%	2.7%	4.0%	7.8%
Delta County	32K	8.8%	11.3%	5.1%	14.0%
Rio Blanco County	7K	8.6%	13.8%	4.0%	8.5%
Conejos County	8K	5.6%	16.2%	4.8%	11.7%
Ouray County	5K	5.3%	3.9%	1.3%	4.3%
Phillips County	4K	4.7%	11.3%	5.4%	16.8%
Grand County	16K	2.8%	3.1%	1.4%	7.6%
Crowley County	6K	1.8%	22.4%	4.7%	19.4%
Gilpin County	6K	0.0%	8.9%	5.3%	11.2%

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 Colorado 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.