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

Iowa ranks #43 of 50 in the lower third on low-access (20.0%), same basis as the national cartogram.

What share of Iowa has low food access?

20.0% of Iowa residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (-2.1 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Iowa?

85 census tracts in Iowa are USDA food deserts (~173K low-income low-access residents); ~0.86 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Iowa?

Across Iowa, 8.8% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-3.3 pts vs U.S.) - low tercile among states.

Which county in Iowa has the worst food access?

Fremont County has the highest low-access share at 76.0% (~0.9% of statewide low-access residents), with 11.7% SNAP.

Signature · 20.0% low-access (#43 of 50)

Food access in Iowa

Iowa lands in the lower third on population-weighted low-access (20.0%), 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

20.0%
low-access pop.: 85
food-desert tracts: 8.8%
on SNAP: 99
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State IA · Iowa

LA-ELEVATED · BELOW-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-LIGHT · VEH-OK · BOOK-MID

LA-ELEVATED 20.0% low-access
BELOW-NATIONAL -2.1 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 85 food-desert tracts
SNAP-LIGHT 8.8% SNAP
VEH-OK 5.4% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 99 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Illinois (+ 0.2 pts)

Iowa's thick county book (99)

Iowa covers 99 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Iowa vs all states by county count

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

99 9th of 51 higher than 42 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

Iowa stays in the lower third nationally (20.0%, #43 of 50) with ~608K low-access residents and 85 LILA tracts.

#43
among states by low-access: 608K
low-access residents: 173K
food-desert residents: 5.4%
households, no vehicle

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

Iowa on the national low-access cartogram

Iowa ringed at #43 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: 20.0% low-access (#43 of 50) (-2.1 pts vs U.S. low-access).

Iowa lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (20.0% , #43 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Fremont County still reaches 76.0% locally while SNAP sits at 8.8% .

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

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Iowa. 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 (20.0% here).

Illinois · 20.2% low-access
Kentucky · 19.8% low-access
Virginia · 20.4% low-access
West Virginia · 21.3% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (8.8% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Indiana · 9.0% SNAP
New Jersey · 9.1% SNAP
Colorado · 8.5% SNAP
South Dakota · 8.4% 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

Fremont

76
Wapello

50.4
Wayne

40
Howard

37.8
Henry

33.6
Webster

32.3
Crawford

32.1
Emmet

31.3

All counties in Iowa

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Fremont County	7K	76.0%	11.7%	2.4%	7.7%
Wapello County	35K	50.4%	15.3%	6.6%	15.8%
Wayne County	7K	40.0%	10.3%	6.7%	10.1%
Howard County	9K	37.8%	6.5%	4.9%	8.9%
Henry County	20K	33.6%	9.0%	4.8%	12.0%
Webster County	37K	32.3%	11.0%	6.7%	12.9%
Crawford County	16K	32.1%	10.5%	3.4%	14.8%
Emmet County	9K	31.3%	8.5%	6.1%	9.9%
Pottawattamie County	93K	30.6%	9.8%	6.3%	12.1%
Des Moines County	38K	30.1%	11.4%	7.3%	12.8%
Calhoun County	10K	29.9%	9.5%	3.4%	9.3%
Clinton County	46K	29.7%	12.8%	7.2%	13.2%
Osceola County	6K	29.6%	8.7%	1.4%	16.0%
Linn County	230K	29.2%	8.1%	4.9%	9.4%
Cass County	13K	28.7%	12.0%	5.7%	14.3%
Lee County	33K	28.3%	13.5%	5.0%	13.1%
Warren County	54K	28.2%	6.1%	3.3%	5.1%
Marshall County	40K	28.1%	9.2%	5.5%	11.2%
Black Hawk County	131K	27.5%	11.1%	6.3%	14.9%
Lucas County	9K	27.5%	9.9%	7.7%	14.9%
Mahaska County	22K	25.6%	13.0%	4.0%	12.6%
Keokuk County	10K	25.4%	9.4%	4.3%	12.1%
Humboldt County	10K	24.5%	11.3%	4.8%	12.9%
Palo Alto County	9K	24.4%	10.0%	3.4%	11.6%
Van Buren County	7K	24.3%	8.0%	10.2%	15.1%
Jackson County	19K	24.0%	10.5%	5.2%	9.7%
Cherokee County	12K	23.3%	7.0%	5.7%	12.1%
Dubuque County	99K	23.3%	8.0%	6.1%	9.7%
Story County	100K	23.1%	4.6%	5.8%	18.2%
Cedar County	18K	22.6%	6.5%	2.6%	7.3%
Mitchell County	11K	22.3%	7.7%	3.0%	9.5%
Pocahontas County	7K	22.3%	7.6%	4.6%	10.3%
Floyd County	15K	22.2%	8.3%	6.7%	11.6%
Dallas County	108K	22.1%	5.5%	2.9%	6.3%
Union County	12K	22.1%	17.4%	5.9%	12.4%
Shelby County	12K	21.9%	7.3%	3.2%	7.6%
Cerro Gordo County	43K	21.6%	9.0%	5.0%	10.6%
Montgomery County	10K	20.7%	14.5%	4.0%	15.3%
Franklin County	10K	19.7%	6.9%	4.1%	13.6%
Harrison County	15K	19.7%	6.5%	4.1%	7.1%
Madison County	17K	19.7%	6.1%	6.6%	7.0%
Polk County	503K	19.4%	9.8%	5.8%	10.3%
Woodbury County	106K	19.2%	12.6%	6.1%	14.0%
Kossuth County	15K	18.7%	4.6%	6.1%	8.2%
Greene County	9K	18.6%	8.2%	3.2%	9.8%
Jefferson County	16K	18.5%	12.9%	7.5%	15.2%
Benton County	26K	17.0%	4.8%	3.3%	7.4%
Muscatine County	43K	17.0%	12.1%	3.8%	13.7%
Buena Vista County	21K	16.6%	10.0%	1.7%	7.8%
Monona County	9K	16.3%	8.8%	4.2%	10.6%
Jasper County	38K	16.2%	7.4%	4.4%	8.3%
Marion County	34K	15.9%	7.9%	3.4%	8.2%
Plymouth County	26K	15.9%	6.6%	3.8%	6.9%
Appanoose County	12K	15.7%	13.3%	6.9%	17.5%
Jones County	21K	15.6%	10.6%	3.0%	12.0%
Tama County	17K	15.4%	9.6%	2.5%	14.8%
Clay County	16K	14.9%	9.4%	5.5%	11.4%
Buchanan County	21K	14.1%	6.6%	6.6%	8.6%
Scott County	175K	13.9%	10.3%	6.7%	11.5%
Mills County	15K	13.3%	6.5%	4.8%	8.2%
Lyon County	12K	12.8%	3.2%	3.6%	5.3%
Chickasaw County	12K	12.6%	5.0%	3.0%	8.8%
Wright County	13K	12.4%	9.5%	4.4%	16.8%
O'Brien County	14K	12.0%	7.7%	4.7%	13.3%
Delaware County	18K	11.3%	8.5%	8.5%	7.8%
Guthrie County	11K	11.3%	7.9%	4.0%	9.9%
Sac County	10K	11.2%	7.5%	5.3%	9.2%
Allamakee County	14K	10.9%	8.3%	3.7%	10.1%
Davis County	9K	10.9%	6.7%	15.6%	7.2%
Ringgold County	5K	10.9%	13.1%	6.0%	8.8%
Page County	15K	10.7%	12.8%	7.5%	13.8%
Winneshiek County	20K	10.7%	3.1%	4.5%	8.4%
Boone County	27K	10.1%	4.8%	5.5%	6.2%
Bremer County	25K	10.0%	5.3%	2.6%	7.3%
Hamilton County	15K	10.0%	8.0%	4.7%	7.4%
Decatur County	8K	9.9%	9.7%	7.5%	14.6%
Hancock County	11K	9.6%	6.5%	5.1%	12.2%
Clarke County	10K	9.2%	11.5%	12.5%	9.7%
Carroll County	21K	8.9%	5.9%	4.9%	7.9%
Monroe County	8K	8.9%	7.8%	5.6%	9.2%
Washington County	23K	8.9%	8.1%	4.8%	8.2%
Hardin County	17K	8.6%	8.4%	5.3%	9.7%
Johnson County	157K	8.6%	6.0%	7.1%	17.1%
Dickinson County	18K	8.4%	4.5%	4.4%	7.6%
Worth County	7K	8.1%	6.7%	4.6%	8.2%
Adair County	7K	8.0%	9.8%	4.4%	9.5%
Winnebago County	11K	7.8%	10.0%	5.8%	11.2%
Audubon County	6K	7.4%	8.4%	7.6%	11.8%
Butler County	14K	6.9%	7.0%	3.6%	9.2%
Adams County	4K	6.4%	9.5%	5.5%	9.1%
Poweshiek County	19K	6.1%	9.4%	7.2%	10.7%
Iowa County	17K	5.1%	6.5%	3.5%	8.9%
Taylor County	6K	4.2%	10.1%	4.3%	11.0%
Fayette County	19K	4.0%	8.3%	5.7%	12.0%
Clayton County	17K	2.5%	6.7%	6.9%	10.9%
Sioux County	36K	1.5%	2.8%	2.9%	6.7%
Ida County	7K	1.3%	7.6%	4.6%	11.3%
Louisa County	11K	1.1%	13.7%	5.5%	9.8%
Grundy County	12K	0.0%	4.4%	3.2%	6.5%

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 Iowa 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.