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

Illinois ranks #42 of 50 in the lower third on low-access (20.2%), same basis as the national cartogram.

What share of Illinois has low food access?

20.2% of Illinois residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (-1.9 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Illinois?

319 census tracts in Illinois are USDA food deserts (~620K low-income low-access residents); ~3.13 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Illinois?

Across Illinois, 13.7% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (+1.6 pts vs U.S.) - high tercile among states.

Which county in Illinois has the worst food access?

Scott County has the highest low-access share at 66.5% (~0.1% of statewide low-access residents), with 16.2% SNAP.

Signature · 102 counties in the atlas book

Food access in Illinois

Illinois lands in the lower third on population-weighted low-access (20.2%), 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

20.2%
low-access pop.: 319
food-desert tracts: 13.7%
on SNAP: 102
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State IL · Illinois

LA-ELEVATED · BELOW-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-HEAVY · VEH-GAP · BOOK-MEGA

LA-ELEVATED 20.2% low-access
BELOW-NATIONAL -1.9 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 319 food-desert tracts
SNAP-HEAVY 13.7% SNAP
VEH-GAP 10.8% no vehicle
BOOK-MEGA 102 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Iowa ( -0.2 pts)

Illinois's thick county book (102)

Illinois covers 102 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Illinois vs all states by county count

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

102 7th of 51 higher than 44 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

Illinois stays in the lower third nationally (20.2%, #42 of 50) with ~2.6M low-access residents and 319 LILA tracts.

#42
among states by low-access: 2.6M
low-access residents: 620K
food-desert residents: 10.8%
households, no vehicle

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

Illinois among lower low-access states

Illinois ringed at #42 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: 102 counties in the atlas book .

Illinois lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (20.2% , #42 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Scott County still reaches 66.5% locally while SNAP sits at 13.7% .

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

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Illinois. 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 (20.2% here).

Iowa · 20.0% low-access
Virginia · 20.4% low-access
Kentucky · 19.8% low-access
West Virginia · 21.3% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (13.7% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Alabama · 13.6% SNAP
Michigan · 13.5% SNAP
Mississippi · 13.5% SNAP
Oklahoma · 14.0% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
WV

21.3
VA

20.4
IL

20.2
IA

20
KY

19.8
DC

4.6

Scott

66.5
Gallatin

66.3
Stark

62.6
Alexander

49.6
Will

44.5
McHenry

44.3
Hancock

43.2
Edgar

41.9

All counties in Illinois

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Scott County	5K	66.5%	16.2%	4.8%	11.5%
Gallatin County	5K	66.3%	21.8%	7.7%	13.6%
Stark County	5K	62.6%	11.6%	2.5%	11.1%
Alexander County	5K	49.6%	26.8%	10.1%	19.0%
Will County	701K	44.5%	10.1%	3.9%	7.3%
McHenry County	313K	44.3%	7.4%	3.5%	6.2%
Hancock County	17K	43.2%	13.3%	5.4%	12.3%
Edgar County	17K	41.9%	19.3%	8.0%	12.0%
Madison County	264K	41.8%	13.7%	5.7%	11.1%
Fayette County	21K	39.3%	11.6%	5.5%	15.5%
Tazewell County	130K	39.3%	10.4%	5.5%	9.0%
Morgan County	33K	38.5%	16.2%	5.5%	13.4%
DeKalb County	101K	38.2%	14.7%	6.4%	14.8%
Monroe County	35K	37.4%	4.4%	4.0%	5.0%
St. Clair County	254K	36.8%	16.2%	7.5%	13.6%
Bureau County	33K	36.6%	13.5%	6.7%	10.8%
Macon County	102K	36.0%	19.8%	9.5%	15.0%
Mason County	13K	35.6%	15.5%	7.9%	14.8%
Jackson County	53K	34.9%	18.5%	11.5%	21.0%
Brown County	6K	34.5%	12.1%	8.5%	9.2%
Lake County	714K	34.4%	9.4%	4.6%	8.3%
Peoria County	180K	34.2%	18.0%	8.1%	15.7%
Kendall County	138K	33.8%	8.6%	2.2%	5.4%
Woodford County	38K	32.6%	5.5%	3.3%	7.0%
Williamson County	67K	32.3%	16.6%	6.0%	13.8%
Clark County	15K	32.2%	13.4%	5.2%	9.1%
Boone County	53K	31.5%	14.3%	4.2%	9.9%
Henry County	49K	31.4%	13.3%	6.6%	8.9%
Pulaski County	5K	31.4%	22.9%	7.4%	25.0%
McLean County	172K	30.7%	10.3%	5.9%	12.9%
McDonough County	27K	29.9%	14.2%	9.4%	17.2%
Coles County	47K	29.2%	19.0%	8.7%	18.7%
Iroquois County	26K	29.1%	14.2%	4.5%	12.5%
Pope County	4K	29.1%	9.1%	5.5%	13.3%
Grundy County	53K	28.4%	10.9%	4.0%	6.0%
Knox County	49K	26.9%	15.4%	8.6%	14.6%
LaSalle County	109K	26.5%	14.8%	6.0%	13.9%
Winnebago County	283K	26.4%	20.4%	8.6%	15.6%
Jefferson County	37K	26.3%	17.1%	6.3%	13.5%
Logan County	28K	26.0%	18.4%	6.8%	13.1%
Sangamon County	195K	25.6%	15.5%	7.6%	13.1%
Marion County	37K	25.2%	19.8%	7.0%	15.4%
Wayne County	16K	25.1%	14.0%	7.2%	16.1%
Ford County	13K	23.9%	14.4%	9.1%	12.4%
Pike County	14K	23.8%	15.9%	3.4%	14.8%
Perry County	21K	23.0%	19.0%	6.5%	16.9%
Lawrence County	15K	22.9%	14.7%	5.7%	14.5%
Vermilion County	72K	22.9%	19.5%	9.1%	17.7%
Jersey County	21K	22.8%	11.9%	4.7%	8.8%
Mercer County	15K	22.8%	9.9%	2.8%	8.9%
DuPage County	930K	22.5%	7.4%	4.6%	6.6%
Champaign County	209K	21.8%	9.1%	12.8%	19.1%
Shelby County	21K	21.4%	14.0%	4.9%	9.2%
Whiteside County	55K	21.3%	14.1%	5.8%	12.0%
Hardin County	4K	21.1%	18.5%	9.0%	11.0%
Franklin County	37K	21.0%	25.8%	6.3%	17.5%
Kane County	517K	21.0%	11.0%	4.7%	7.9%
Bond County	17K	20.8%	12.9%	6.8%	10.9%
Kankakee County	107K	20.8%	15.9%	6.6%	12.2%
Lee County	34K	18.9%	15.4%	6.6%	11.8%
Clay County	13K	18.5%	18.5%	4.9%	17.5%
Clinton County	37K	18.5%	9.0%	3.2%	7.4%
Edwards County	6K	18.5%	17.1%	3.9%	16.5%
Jo Daviess County	22K	17.2%	8.4%	7.0%	7.8%
Schuyler County	7K	17.0%	11.6%	5.0%	20.8%
Rock Island County	143K	16.8%	15.9%	8.6%	15.5%
Adams County	65K	16.5%	12.4%	7.5%	12.8%
Livingston County	36K	16.2%	14.7%	5.5%	10.5%
Wabash County	11K	16.0%	20.4%	11.0%	16.7%
Montgomery County	28K	15.8%	15.4%	6.6%	12.6%
Jasper County	9K	15.7%	14.0%	4.5%	11.1%
Effingham County	35K	15.3%	12.2%	5.7%	10.1%
Calhoun County	4K	14.4%	7.7%	2.7%	6.3%
Ogle County	51K	14.3%	10.7%	5.5%	8.4%
Randolph County	30K	14.3%	12.9%	6.7%	14.6%
Saline County	23K	14.3%	26.2%	9.6%	18.9%
Hamilton County	8K	13.7%	15.2%	5.4%	12.1%
Menard County	12K	13.4%	14.5%	5.5%	10.1%
Marshall County	12K	13.2%	13.5%	3.6%	11.4%
Carroll County	16K	12.9%	15.1%	3.3%	14.2%
Macoupin County	44K	12.7%	15.4%	4.5%	13.1%
Cass County	13K	12.2%	14.7%	4.5%	11.1%
Douglas County	20K	11.8%	12.4%	10.8%	8.5%
Washington County	14K	11.8%	9.5%	2.6%	7.5%
Fulton County	33K	11.1%	17.3%	5.3%	13.2%
Piatt County	17K	9.9%	6.3%	2.1%	6.1%
Warren County	16K	9.0%	16.0%	6.9%	14.6%
Crawford County	19K	8.7%	13.7%	6.1%	12.1%
Massac County	14K	8.5%	17.1%	5.1%	16.3%
White County	14K	8.5%	18.7%	9.5%	16.4%
Union County	17K	7.9%	17.3%	9.6%	20.2%
Johnson County	13K	7.5%	12.9%	4.3%	17.6%
Cook County	5.2M	7.4%	15.7%	18.0%	13.5%
De Witt County	15K	7.3%	13.1%	3.8%	10.0%
Christian County	34K	7.0%	15.3%	6.1%	10.2%
Stephenson County	44K	6.5%	17.0%	7.9%	13.9%
Richland County	16K	6.4%	15.7%	8.4%	12.1%
Moultrie County	14K	2.5%	11.8%	13.3%	9.2%
Greene County	12K	1.8%	15.5%	4.6%	14.3%
Henderson County	6K	1.3%	13.8%	4.4%	13.9%
Cumberland County	10K	0.8%	9.2%	4.8%	9.1%
Putnam County	6K	0.1%	8.3%	3.2%	8.1%

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 Illinois 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.