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

Georgia ranks #3 of 50 and sits in the upper third by population-weighted low-access (30.9%), per USDA FARA 2019.

What share of Georgia has low food access?

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

How many food deserts are in Georgia?

441 census tracts in Georgia are USDA food deserts (~971K low-income low-access residents); ~2.77 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Georgia?

Across Georgia, 12.2% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (+0.1 pts vs U.S.) - mid tercile among states.

Which county in Georgia has the worst food access?

Chattahoochee County has the highest low-access share at 97.7% (~0.4% of statewide low-access residents), with 22.5% SNAP.

Signature · 30.9% low-access (#3 of 50)

Food access in Georgia

Georgia 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 159 counties.

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

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

USDA FARA state access plate

State GA · Georgia

LA-ELEVATED · ABOVE-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-TYPICAL · VEH-OK · BOOK-MEGA

LA-ELEVATED 30.9% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +8.8 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 441 food-desert tracts
SNAP-TYPICAL 12.2% SNAP
VEH-OK 5.8% no vehicle
BOOK-MEGA 159 counties

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

Georgia's thick county book (159)

Georgia covers 159 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Georgia vs all states by county count

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

159 2nd of 51 higher than 49 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, Georgia is in the upper third on low-access (30.9%, #3 of 50; ~3.0M residents) - +8.8 pts vs the U.S. mean.

#3
among states by low-access: 3.0M
low-access residents: 971K
food-desert residents: 5.8%
households, no vehicle

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

Georgia on the national low-access cartogram

Georgia ringed at #3 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 (#3 of 50) (+8.8 pts vs U.S. low-access).

Georgia sits in the upper third of states by population-weighted low-access share (30.9% , #3 of 50). The Atlas marks 441 food-desert tracts here (971K low-income low-access residents). Chattahoochee County alone holds about 0.4% of the state's low-access residents. County book is thick (159 units) so statewide averages mask more local spread.

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

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Georgia. 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).

Alaska · 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 (12.2% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Ohio · 12.3% SNAP
Maine · 12.0% SNAP
Connecticut · 11.8% SNAP
California · 12.6% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
GA

30.9
AK

30.9
WY

29.7
SD

29.1
DC

4.6

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.

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 Georgia 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.