State food-access profile · 44 counties

Food access in Idaho

How far Idaho 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

25.8%
low-access pop.: 41
food-desert tracts: 7.7%
on SNAP: 44
counties

The statewide picture

About 404K Idaho residents - 25.8% - live in a low-access area, and 41 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

404K
low-access residents: 124K
food-desert residents: 3.6%
households, no vehicle: 10.7%
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 Idaho stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Idaho 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 Idaho 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 44 counties and 1.9M residents, Idaho's population-weighted low-access share is 25.8%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 41 tracts in Idaho, home to roughly 124K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 7.7% of households, and 3.6% 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.

Counties

25.8%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

404K

Low-access residents

7.7%

Avg. SNAP

Camas

100
Clark

100
Lincoln

97.4
Lewis

48
Boise

47.5
Fremont

46.6
Bonneville

38.7
Minidoka

37

All counties in Idaho

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Camas County	1K	100.0%	0.3%	4.1%	5.9%
Clark County	849	100.0%	4.3%	N/A	11.7%
Lincoln County	5K	97.4%	6.0%	1.1%	10.5%
Lewis County	4K	48.0%	9.8%	3.4%	15.3%
Boise County	8K	47.5%	6.8%	2.6%	7.7%
Fremont County	14K	46.6%	8.8%	1.8%	10.1%
Bonneville County	130K	38.7%	9.1%	3.1%	9.8%
Minidoka County	22K	37.0%	11.1%	5.6%	14.5%
Bannock County	89K	34.7%	14.6%	5.0%	12.3%
Bingham County	50K	32.3%	10.3%	4.5%	11.7%
Ada County	519K	30.4%	5.1%	3.8%	8.3%
Gem County	21K	28.3%	6.8%	2.9%	12.0%
Nez Perce County	43K	27.8%	7.3%	5.7%	12.2%
Kootenai County	182K	27.6%	6.7%	4.2%	9.0%
Owyhee County	13K	27.5%	11.8%	3.5%	12.2%
Elmore County	29K	27.2%	7.8%	4.2%	10.5%
Jefferson County	33K	26.7%	7.5%	1.3%	9.7%
Bear Lake County	7K	25.9%	4.7%	1.7%	7.0%
Adams County	5K	25.5%	4.6%	2.0%	17.9%
Lemhi County	8K	25.5%	10.0%	5.4%	12.8%
Jerome County	25K	24.6%	7.6%	3.2%	12.6%
Benewah County	10K	23.3%	10.6%	3.0%	12.9%
Custer County	4K	21.5%	4.6%	3.7%	15.8%
Madison County	55K	21.5%	9.5%	2.1%	24.5%
Butte County	3K	20.9%	10.9%	5.7%	19.3%
Cassia County	25K	20.3%	9.2%	4.6%	12.4%
Payette County	27K	19.6%	15.6%	3.7%	10.2%
Canyon County	251K	19.3%	8.6%	3.4%	10.5%
Valley County	12K	18.6%	3.1%	4.2%	11.7%
Idaho County	17K	17.8%	4.6%	3.0%	11.1%
Washington County	11K	16.9%	11.1%	4.9%	15.3%
Latah County	41K	16.7%	5.4%	4.0%	17.6%
Twin Falls County	94K	14.1%	9.6%	2.9%	11.5%
Oneida County	5K	13.5%	4.8%	1.2%	10.8%
Boundary County	13K	13.0%	10.8%	2.1%	13.6%
Power County	8K	12.6%	8.9%	3.2%	9.5%
Shoshone County	14K	9.7%	10.3%	4.5%	13.1%
Teton County	12K	8.9%	3.1%	1.4%	9.1%
Bonner County	51K	8.2%	6.4%	4.8%	11.1%
Blaine County	25K	7.9%	4.1%	1.3%	6.6%
Clearwater County	9K	7.8%	8.4%	3.6%	13.2%
Franklin County	15K	7.2%	6.1%	2.5%	7.9%
Caribou County	7K	5.4%	7.7%	2.3%	9.2%
Gooding County	16K	0.8%	8.3%	2.9%	13.0%

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

25.8% of Idaho residents, about 404K people, live in a low-access area.
41 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 124K low-income, low-access residents.
7.7% of households receive SNAP, and 3.6% have no vehicle.
Camas County has the state's highest low-access share at 100.0%.

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 Idaho has low food access?▼

25.8% of Idaho 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 Idaho?▼

41 census tracts in Idaho are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 124K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Idaho?▼

Across Idaho counties, an average of 7.7% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Idaho has the worst food access?▼

Camas County has the highest low-access share in Idaho at 100.0%, with 0.3% 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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