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

Kentucky ranks #44 of 50 in the lower third on low-access (19.8%), same basis as the national cartogram.

What share of Kentucky has low food access?

19.8% of Kentucky residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (-2.3 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Kentucky?

153 census tracts in Kentucky are USDA food deserts (~277K low-income low-access residents); ~1.27 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Kentucky?

Across Kentucky, 13.2% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (+1.1 pts vs U.S.) - high tercile among states.

Which county in Kentucky has the worst food access?

Robertson County has the highest low-access share at 74.8% (~0.2% of statewide low-access residents), with 18.3% SNAP.

Signature · 120 counties in the atlas book

Food access in Kentucky

Kentucky lands in the lower third on population-weighted low-access (19.8%), 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

19.8%
low-access pop.: 153
food-desert tracts: 13.2%
on SNAP: 120
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State KY · Kentucky

LA-MODERATE · BELOW-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-TYPICAL · VEH-OK · BOOK-MEGA

LA-MODERATE 19.8% low-access
BELOW-NATIONAL -2.3 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 153 food-desert tracts
SNAP-TYPICAL 13.2% SNAP
VEH-OK 6.7% no vehicle
BOOK-MEGA 120 counties

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

Kentucky's thick county book (120)

Kentucky covers 120 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Kentucky vs all states by county count

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

120 4th of 51 higher than 47 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

Kentucky stays in the lower third nationally (19.8%, #44 of 50) with ~858K low-access residents and 153 LILA tracts.

#44
among states by low-access: 858K
low-access residents: 277K
food-desert residents: 6.7%
households, no vehicle

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

Kentucky among lower low-access states

Kentucky ringed at #44 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: 120 counties in the atlas book .

Kentucky lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (19.8% , #44 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Robertson County still reaches 74.8% locally while SNAP sits at 13.2% .

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

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Kentucky. 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 (19.8% here).

Iowa · 20.0% low-access
Illinois · 20.2% low-access
Virginia · 20.4% low-access
West Virginia · 21.3% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (13.2% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Michigan · 13.5% SNAP
Mississippi · 13.5% SNAP
Florida · 12.8% SNAP
Alabama · 13.6% 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

Robertson

74.8
Boone

49.8
Bullitt

45.3
Woodford

44.5
Campbell

39.1
McCracken

38.9
Oldham

38.8
Kenton

36.4

All counties in Kentucky

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Robertson County	2K	74.8%	18.3%	1.5%	21.1%
Boone County	140K	49.8%	6.5%	3.5%	6.3%
Bullitt County	84K	45.3%	7.3%	4.0%	9.7%
Woodford County	27K	44.5%	8.5%	4.7%	10.5%
Campbell County	93K	39.1%	6.2%	5.7%	11.1%
McCracken County	68K	38.9%	10.0%	6.2%	15.2%
Oldham County	69K	38.8%	3.4%	1.4%	4.3%
Kenton County	171K	36.4%	7.2%	6.8%	11.8%
Boyd County	48K	34.2%	17.3%	8.4%	16.9%
Union County	13K	33.5%	10.1%	5.6%	18.4%
Christian County	72K	33.2%	12.7%	7.8%	17.1%
Knox County	30K	27.9%	31.9%	12.4%	36.9%
Hardin County	112K	27.7%	9.8%	6.6%	13.1%
Webster County	13K	27.7%	10.9%	4.3%	13.5%
Bourbon County	20K	26.7%	14.9%	5.0%	14.2%
Madison County	96K	25.7%	13.4%	4.9%	15.1%
Clay County	20K	25.2%	34.7%	13.2%	32.4%
Jessamine County	55K	25.0%	9.3%	4.0%	11.3%
Franklin County	52K	24.8%	13.2%	6.0%	13.6%
Laurel County	63K	24.5%	17.7%	5.5%	20.5%
Pulaski County	66K	23.7%	15.2%	5.1%	19.7%
Scott County	60K	23.5%	8.6%	3.7%	10.6%
Jefferson County	783K	22.2%	11.0%	8.7%	14.3%
Allen County	21K	21.7%	14.1%	5.6%	13.5%
Boyle County	31K	21.6%	11.9%	5.8%	15.6%
Breathitt County	13K	21.6%	34.5%	15.2%	33.1%
Fayette County	324K	20.7%	8.5%	7.2%	14.9%
Graves County	37K	20.3%	14.8%	5.6%	19.9%
Greenup County	36K	20.1%	13.9%	4.6%	15.4%
Grayson County	27K	19.6%	12.8%	5.6%	20.1%
Hopkins County	45K	19.4%	13.8%	7.1%	20.0%
Wayne County	20K	19.4%	20.3%	6.8%	24.8%
Larue County	15K	19.0%	13.2%	3.3%	17.9%
Daviess County	104K	18.9%	11.4%	6.9%	14.7%
Hancock County	9K	18.5%	14.8%	4.4%	16.2%
Simpson County	20K	17.9%	11.9%	3.3%	15.5%
Lincoln County	25K	17.8%	18.3%	5.3%	16.3%
Mason County	17K	17.6%	20.6%	9.6%	18.8%
Clark County	37K	16.8%	13.5%	7.8%	14.6%
Meade County	30K	16.6%	11.5%	4.3%	12.2%
Calloway County	38K	16.5%	9.4%	5.0%	17.2%
Washington County	12K	16.2%	16.2%	5.3%	12.7%
Warren County	141K	16.0%	12.8%	7.1%	17.0%
Harrison County	19K	15.6%	15.9%	9.5%	17.1%
Barren County	45K	15.5%	16.3%	8.9%	19.4%
Livingston County	9K	15.4%	12.5%	3.2%	19.3%
Marion County	20K	14.7%	15.3%	6.0%	17.0%
Mercer County	23K	14.7%	10.9%	4.8%	10.7%
Montgomery County	28K	14.6%	16.5%	5.1%	15.4%
Bell County	24K	14.0%	24.5%	10.6%	28.8%
Muhlenberg County	31K	13.5%	16.1%	5.2%	18.4%
Crittenden County	9K	11.9%	10.6%	6.0%	17.7%
Breckinridge County	21K	11.4%	16.3%	4.2%	21.4%
Butler County	12K	10.3%	17.6%	8.2%	20.5%
Green County	11K	10.1%	19.7%	3.5%	20.4%
Logan County	28K	9.8%	13.7%	6.2%	16.8%
Henderson County	44K	9.7%	15.4%	7.0%	14.6%
Casey County	16K	9.5%	14.8%	9.6%	21.7%
Lawrence County	16K	9.3%	25.6%	5.6%	21.8%
Owen County	11K	9.3%	11.7%	3.6%	18.3%
Marshall County	32K	9.2%	9.3%	4.9%	12.3%
Hart County	20K	9.0%	18.7%	8.7%	19.3%
Trigg County	14K	9.0%	10.9%	6.5%	20.6%
Leslie County	10K	8.4%	29.1%	7.8%	30.3%
Taylor County	26K	8.2%	15.1%	5.8%	17.5%
Jackson County	13K	8.1%	30.6%	9.0%	19.5%
Carlisle County	5K	7.9%	12.4%	2.8%	15.1%
Anderson County	24K	7.8%	7.5%	3.8%	11.5%
Carter County	26K	7.8%	19.6%	8.3%	19.2%
Morgan County	14K	7.6%	18.6%	5.6%	17.1%
Todd County	12K	7.4%	13.2%	10.1%	20.9%
Ohio County	24K	6.9%	13.4%	5.1%	12.5%
Fleming County	15K	6.6%	20.3%	9.2%	21.2%
Adair County	19K	6.5%	16.9%	6.1%	18.4%
Floyd County	35K	6.4%	24.1%	10.5%	28.0%
Harlan County	26K	6.2%	26.5%	8.1%	27.4%
Wolfe County	6K	5.6%	36.5%	10.3%	37.7%
Edmonson County	12K	5.5%	13.1%	4.7%	15.3%
Grant County	25K	4.9%	12.2%	4.8%	11.7%
Whitley County	37K	4.2%	19.7%	8.4%	26.3%
Russell County	18K	4.0%	17.7%	6.5%	23.1%
Nelson County	48K	3.9%	9.7%	2.3%	10.8%
Hickman County	4K	3.7%	19.1%	5.8%	20.5%
Henry County	16K	3.6%	11.7%	5.9%	16.4%
Monroe County	11K	3.5%	15.5%	5.0%	22.1%
Lyon County	9K	3.3%	11.8%	6.7%	9.5%
McLean County	9K	3.3%	10.3%	4.5%	9.5%
Johnson County	22K	3.1%	25.3%	5.2%	22.8%
McCreary County	17K	2.8%	33.3%	10.8%	38.9%
Magoffin County	11K	2.4%	37.2%	8.4%	38.2%
Owsley County	4K	2.3%	37.8%	16.3%	36.1%
Martin County	11K	2.0%	29.2%	8.7%	33.2%
Cumberland County	6K	1.9%	27.6%	9.4%	24.8%
Rowan County	25K	1.8%	16.8%	8.4%	24.2%
Bath County	13K	1.7%	19.6%	9.1%	25.3%
Caldwell County	13K	1.7%	14.0%	5.7%	15.1%
Clinton County	9K	1.6%	25.0%	3.3%	17.5%
Lewis County	13K	1.2%	22.8%	3.8%	22.0%
Menifee County	6K	1.1%	23.3%	7.3%	26.9%
Perry County	27K	1.1%	28.6%	7.2%	26.8%
Knott County	14K	0.9%	23.3%	8.9%	23.3%
Metcalfe County	10K	0.8%	19.5%	7.8%	27.5%
Shelby County	49K	0.7%	8.5%	4.2%	9.7%
Bracken County	8K	0.6%	17.4%	2.9%	19.5%
Nicholas County	8K	0.6%	15.5%	11.4%	17.6%
Pendleton County	15K	0.6%	15.4%	5.7%	15.9%
Rockcastle County	16K	0.5%	21.9%	9.3%	25.6%
Estill County	14K	0.1%	25.8%	6.9%	20.7%
Fulton County	6K	0.1%	22.9%	17.0%	22.6%
Pike County	57K	0.1%	20.4%	9.0%	24.4%
Ballard County	8K	0.0%	11.9%	4.2%	15.0%
Carroll County	11K	0.0%	16.9%	7.4%	23.1%
Elliott County	7K	0.0%	26.1%	9.3%	25.1%
Gallatin County	9K	0.0%	12.4%	5.3%	13.8%
Garrard County	18K	0.0%	12.4%	4.7%	15.9%
Lee County	7K	0.0%	28.7%	13.1%	27.4%
Letcher County	21K	0.0%	27.5%	6.5%	24.4%
Powell County	13K	0.0%	23.0%	8.9%	22.5%
Spencer County	20K	0.0%	6.6%	3.0%	9.8%
Trimble County	9K	0.0%	10.8%	3.0%	13.3%

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 Kentucky 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.