State food-access profile · 159 counties

Food access in Georgia

How far Georgia 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).

Compiled by Plainfoodaccess, Food Access Editorial Process · June 23, 2026

30.9%
low-access pop.: 441
food-desert tracts: 12.2%
on SNAP: 159
counties

The statewide picture

About 3.0M Georgia residents - 30.9% - live in a low-access area, and 441 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

3.0M
low-access residents: 971K
food-desert residents: 5.8%
households, no vehicle: 13.5%
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 Georgia stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Georgia 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 Georgia 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 159 counties and 10.9M residents, Georgia'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 441 tracts in Georgia, home to roughly 971K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 12.2% of households, and 5.8% 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.

159

Counties

30.9%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

3.0M

Low-access residents

12.2%

Avg. SNAP

Chattahoochee

97.7
Taliaferro

91.4
Glascock

69.7
Baker

61.3
Forsyth

55.9
Hancock

55.8
Carroll

53
Camden

51.3

All counties in Georgia

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Chattahoochee County	9K	97.7%	22.5%	3.0%	13.9%
Taliaferro County	2K	91.4%	25.9%	5.8%	20.4%
Glascock County	3K	69.7%	19.2%	8.6%	12.6%
Baker County	3K	61.3%	15.2%	6.2%	26.3%
Forsyth County	267K	55.9%	2.2%	2.0%	4.3%
Hancock County	9K	55.8%	29.8%	8.4%	30.6%
Carroll County	125K	53.0%	14.5%	3.9%	15.4%
Camden County	57K	51.3%	10.5%	4.4%	12.9%
Dooly County	11K	50.6%	17.6%	7.3%	15.7%
Henry County	250K	49.4%	10.5%	2.4%	9.2%
Paulding County	179K	48.6%	8.0%	2.5%	6.6%
Appling County	18K	47.8%	19.6%	6.3%	22.5%
Echols County	4K	47.7%	20.3%	1.9%	14.2%
Richmond County	206K	47.6%	21.1%	9.9%	20.0%
Treutlen County	6K	46.8%	22.3%	5.4%	13.8%
Coweta County	153K	44.9%	6.9%	3.2%	7.4%
Douglas County	148K	43.0%	12.8%	3.1%	10.9%
Dougherty County	83K	42.9%	29.0%	10.9%	25.0%
Cherokee County	281K	41.2%	3.5%	2.4%	7.0%
Bryan County	48K	41.1%	7.9%	3.5%	6.7%
Crawford County	12K	40.5%	14.4%	4.6%	11.6%
Clarke County	130K	40.0%	9.4%	6.3%	26.0%
Bleckley County	12K	39.6%	22.4%	8.2%	19.3%
Rockdale County	95K	39.6%	12.2%	3.2%	10.8%
Clayton County	299K	39.2%	19.3%	7.1%	17.9%
Cobb County	775K	38.9%	6.2%	3.9%	8.7%
Gwinnett County	980K	38.9%	7.8%	3.8%	10.8%
Barrow County	90K	38.4%	8.7%	3.1%	9.6%
Jeff Davis County	15K	38.1%	17.1%	9.2%	21.8%
Chattooga County	25K	37.5%	18.8%	7.6%	21.2%
Telfair County	12K	37.4%	27.9%	14.1%	24.1%
Catoosa County	69K	36.7%	11.8%	4.3%	9.9%
Fayette County	122K	36.7%	4.8%	3.2%	5.6%
Columbia County	162K	35.9%	6.7%	3.1%	7.5%
Houston County	170K	35.0%	10.3%	4.2%	11.1%
Floyd County	100K	34.6%	14.9%	7.3%	16.0%
Morgan County	21K	34.6%	11.3%	2.2%	8.8%
Glynn County	85K	34.4%	12.4%	4.5%	16.1%
Randolph County	6K	33.8%	39.4%	25.0%	30.0%
Newton County	118K	33.6%	13.6%	3.4%	12.3%
Jones County	29K	33.3%	14.8%	4.5%	12.1%
Walton County	103K	33.2%	11.5%	2.7%	11.9%
Lee County	34K	32.9%	9.5%	2.8%	5.7%
Jackson County	85K	32.8%	7.5%	2.3%	7.3%
Bibb County	157K	32.2%	22.3%	11.3%	24.7%
Liberty County	67K	31.9%	16.0%	4.5%	15.3%
Chatham County	301K	31.7%	11.8%	7.6%	14.3%
Bartow County	113K	30.3%	8.7%	2.7%	10.3%
Ware County	36K	30.3%	21.9%	16.0%	21.5%
Muscogee County	204K	30.2%	16.8%	10.9%	19.0%
Ben Hill County	17K	30.1%	21.3%	6.3%	25.2%
Whitfield County	104K	29.9%	11.2%	6.1%	14.8%
Washington County	20K	29.8%	29.4%	6.8%	17.2%
Colquitt County	46K	29.5%	19.7%	6.2%	22.9%
Fulton County	1.1M	29.5%	11.6%	10.0%	12.3%
Talbot County	6K	28.5%	23.1%	9.6%	25.2%
Thomas County	46K	28.2%	20.4%	5.9%	17.9%
Peach County	29K	28.1%	18.8%	5.0%	17.3%
Walker County	69K	27.9%	12.0%	3.7%	13.3%
Spalding County	69K	26.4%	18.5%	6.2%	18.9%
Emanuel County	23K	25.5%	27.0%	8.2%	25.7%
Hall County	213K	25.0%	9.6%	6.3%	11.8%
Baldwin County	44K	24.6%	16.2%	7.9%	21.7%
DeKalb County	765K	24.6%	12.8%	7.3%	13.7%
Polk County	44K	24.2%	17.3%	5.0%	16.4%
Atkinson County	8K	23.5%	26.2%	6.3%	25.0%
Lamar County	20K	22.4%	13.5%	4.3%	9.6%
Johnson County	9K	22.3%	25.0%	6.8%	24.2%
Oconee County	44K	22.3%	2.8%	0.8%	6.2%
Effingham County	69K	22.2%	7.8%	2.8%	6.8%
Wilkinson County	9K	21.8%	15.3%	6.6%	21.6%
Bulloch County	83K	21.3%	16.5%	5.6%	23.0%
Screven County	14K	21.0%	13.7%	6.4%	17.2%
Mitchell County	21K	20.8%	27.4%	12.1%	23.4%
Elbert County	20K	20.7%	15.4%	7.2%	18.0%
Gordon County	59K	20.4%	10.2%	3.6%	12.0%
Turner County	9K	20.4%	32.5%	7.9%	20.3%
Berrien County	18K	20.0%	23.5%	3.4%	20.6%
Greene County	20K	19.6%	7.2%	4.4%	9.8%
Laurens County	50K	19.4%	20.5%	6.3%	22.6%
Stewart County	5K	18.6%	33.7%	18.4%	26.4%
Habersham County	48K	18.1%	13.4%	4.2%	14.1%
Decatur County	29K	17.9%	22.8%	6.9%	22.0%
Wayne County	31K	17.9%	20.2%	10.2%	21.3%
Pickens County	35K	17.7%	9.7%	2.8%	12.0%
Murray County	41K	17.6%	12.3%	5.2%	14.4%
Gilmer County	32K	17.3%	9.6%	2.9%	16.0%
Lowndes County	120K	16.9%	16.2%	6.5%	19.2%
Upson County	28K	16.9%	22.7%	11.7%	19.3%
Haralson County	31K	16.7%	14.1%	3.4%	15.4%
Butts County	26K	16.6%	14.8%	4.3%	10.4%
McIntosh County	11K	15.9%	21.8%	6.5%	23.0%
Putnam County	23K	15.5%	11.0%	4.6%	17.6%
Tift County	41K	15.3%	17.7%	7.3%	20.8%
Burke County	24K	15.0%	18.9%	9.0%	18.3%
Wilkes County	10K	14.3%	17.6%	6.2%	17.8%
Seminole County	9K	14.0%	21.3%	10.5%	20.1%
Calhoun County	5K	13.8%	34.3%	10.7%	22.8%
Tattnall County	24K	13.4%	22.2%	6.3%	23.4%
Montgomery County	9K	12.2%	17.9%	4.8%	20.6%
Toombs County	27K	11.6%	22.5%	10.4%	22.5%
Stephens County	27K	10.4%	14.5%	5.3%	15.8%
Brooks County	16K	10.2%	20.7%	8.3%	25.4%
Wilcox County	9K	9.9%	20.2%	9.1%	21.9%
Sumter County	29K	9.8%	21.9%	11.6%	23.7%
Troup County	70K	9.5%	19.3%	9.4%	16.9%
Pierce County	20K	8.9%	11.6%	5.1%	13.8%
Terrell County	9K	8.0%	24.4%	11.8%	33.3%
Clinch County	7K	7.7%	25.4%	14.6%	26.1%
Charlton County	13K	7.3%	25.2%	7.0%	18.1%
Coffee County	43K	7.2%	20.0%	6.9%	23.1%
Crisp County	20K	6.1%	26.9%	15.7%	23.3%
Irwin County	9K	6.1%	14.8%	3.4%	22.4%
Early County	11K	5.7%	26.2%	9.1%	23.6%
Lincoln County	8K	5.6%	11.6%	7.1%	17.0%
Oglethorpe County	16K	5.2%	12.1%	3.3%	11.6%
Wheeler County	7K	4.7%	23.5%	9.3%	32.7%
Brantley County	18K	4.3%	18.9%	5.3%	17.1%
Taylor County	8K	4.2%	34.1%	15.5%	32.1%
Grady County	26K	4.1%	20.3%	5.3%	20.3%
Heard County	12K	3.7%	25.3%	5.5%	17.9%
Pulaski County	10K	3.7%	14.9%	5.9%	16.5%
Union County	26K	3.7%	7.4%	5.4%	10.9%
Monroe County	30K	3.4%	5.9%	3.6%	12.3%
Bacon County	11K	3.3%	20.9%	7.7%	24.5%
Meriwether County	21K	3.3%	23.0%	6.4%	18.9%
Worth County	20K	3.2%	21.4%	6.5%	24.0%
Quitman County	2K	3.1%	22.7%	13.1%	15.7%
Jasper County	16K	2.8%	11.7%	4.3%	16.0%
Madison County	32K	2.3%	12.2%	3.3%	17.2%
Fannin County	26K	2.2%	13.4%	3.0%	13.7%
Warren County	5K	2.1%	22.3%	7.6%	21.4%
Webster County	2K	2.0%	28.7%	7.7%	22.3%
Clay County	3K	1.9%	26.2%	8.4%	21.0%
Banks County	19K	1.8%	9.0%	2.4%	11.3%
Cook County	18K	1.6%	15.3%	5.2%	17.7%
Harris County	36K	1.3%	10.1%	1.4%	9.0%
Dawson County	30K	0.9%	7.1%	1.6%	8.5%
Jenkins County	9K	0.9%	21.3%	6.3%	22.9%
McDuffie County	22K	0.8%	17.0%	4.8%	20.3%
Jefferson County	15K	0.7%	22.3%	8.1%	16.9%
Lanier County	10K	0.7%	19.2%	7.2%	26.1%
Long County	18K	0.7%	18.2%	6.6%	17.3%
Lumpkin County	35K	0.7%	9.2%	2.3%	14.1%
Candler County	11K	0.6%	22.5%	3.6%	16.3%
Rabun County	17K	0.6%	7.2%	4.5%	13.1%
Schley County	5K	0.5%	15.4%	5.8%	13.9%
Macon County	12K	0.4%	27.1%	13.7%	25.1%
Miller County	6K	0.4%	17.6%	10.5%	23.8%
Dodge County	20K	0.3%	22.2%	4.2%	21.5%
Twiggs County	8K	0.1%	21.8%	8.1%	18.2%
Dade County	16K	0.0%	10.5%	2.8%	8.2%
Evans County	11K	0.0%	19.6%	6.5%	19.1%
Franklin County	24K	0.0%	14.7%	5.6%	19.5%
Hart County	27K	0.0%	10.4%	6.2%	11.9%
Marion County	8K	0.0%	21.5%	4.7%	20.9%
Pike County	20K	0.0%	5.2%	2.6%	9.3%
Towns County	13K	0.0%	7.5%	3.7%	13.3%
White County	29K	0.0%	9.7%	2.6%	12.4%

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 Georgia residents, about 3.0M people, live in a low-access area.
441 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 971K low-income, low-access residents.
12.2% of households receive SNAP, and 5.8% have no vehicle.
Chattahoochee County has the state's highest low-access share at 97.7%.

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 Georgia has low food access?▼

30.9% of Georgia 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 Georgia?▼

441 census tracts in Georgia are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 971K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Georgia?▼

Across Georgia counties, an average of 12.2% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Georgia has the worst food access?▼

Chattahoochee County has the highest low-access share in Georgia at 97.7%, with 22.5% 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 2026-06-23 (most recent source-data vintage).

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