State food-access profile · 3 counties
Food access in Delaware
How far Delaware 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).
- 27.3%
- low-access pop.
- 32
- food-desert tracts
- 10.7%
- on SNAP
- 3
- counties
The statewide picture
About 245K Delaware residents - 27.3% - live in a low-access area, and 32 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.
- 245K
- low-access residents
- 57K
- food-desert residents
- 6.3%
- households, no vehicle
- 10.4%
- 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 Delaware stands nationally
Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Delaware 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 Delaware 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 3 counties and 1.0M residents, Delaware's population-weighted low-access share is 27.3%.
A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 32 tracts in Delaware, home to roughly 57K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 10.7% of households, and 6.3% 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.
Highest low-access counties in Delaware
Share of the population living in low-access areas, by county
- Sussex
Sussex County, DE
28.6 % low-access
- New Castle
New Castle County, DE
28.5 % low-access
- Kent
Kent County, DE
21.6 % low-access
All counties in Delaware
| County | Low-access | SNAP |
|---|---|---|
| Sussex County | 28.6% | 10.6% |
| New Castle County | 28.5% | 9.8% |
| Kent County | 21.6% | 13.7% |
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
- 27.3% of Delaware residents, about 245K people, live in a low-access area.
- 32 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 57K low-income, low-access residents.
- 10.7% of households receive SNAP, and 6.3% have no vehicle.
- Sussex County has the state's highest low-access share at 28.6%.
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 Delaware has low food access?▼
How many food deserts are in Delaware?▼
What is the SNAP participation rate in Delaware?▼
Which county in Delaware has the worst food access?▼
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).