State food-access profile · 102 counties

Food access in Illinois

How far Illinois 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

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

The statewide picture

About 2.6M Illinois residents - 20.2% - live in a low-access area, and 319 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

2.6M
low-access residents: 620K
food-desert residents: 10.8%
households, no vehicle: 11.8%
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 Illinois stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Illinois 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 Illinois 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 102 counties and 12.7M residents, Illinois's population-weighted low-access share is 20.2%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 319 tracts in Illinois, home to roughly 620K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 13.7% of households, and 10.8% 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.

102

Counties

20.2%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

2.6M

Low-access residents

13.7%

Avg. SNAP

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. 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

20.2% of Illinois residents, about 2.6M people, live in a low-access area.
319 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 620K low-income, low-access residents.
13.7% of households receive SNAP, and 10.8% have no vehicle.
Scott County has the state's highest low-access share at 66.5%.

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 Illinois has low food access?▼

20.2% of Illinois 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 Illinois?▼

319 census tracts in Illinois are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 620K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Illinois?▼

Across Illinois counties, an average of 13.7% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Illinois has the worst food access?▼

Scott County has the highest low-access share in Illinois at 66.5%, with 16.2% 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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