State food-access profile · 120 counties

Food access in Kentucky

How far Kentucky 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

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

The statewide picture

About 858K Kentucky residents - 19.8% - live in a low-access area, and 153 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

858K
low-access residents: 277K
food-desert residents: 6.7%
households, no vehicle: 16.1%
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 Kentucky stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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 120 counties and 4.5M residents, Kentucky's population-weighted low-access share is 19.8%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 153 tracts in Kentucky, home to roughly 277K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 13.2% of households, and 6.7% 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.

120

Counties

19.8%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

858K

Low-access residents

13.2%

Avg. SNAP

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. 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

19.8% of Kentucky residents, about 858K people, live in a low-access area.
153 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 277K low-income, low-access residents.
13.2% of households receive SNAP, and 6.7% have no vehicle.
Robertson County has the state's highest low-access share at 74.8%.

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 Kentucky has low food access?▼

19.8% of Kentucky 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 Kentucky?▼

153 census tracts in Kentucky are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 277K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Kentucky?▼

Across Kentucky counties, an average of 13.2% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Kentucky has the worst food access?▼

Robertson County has the highest low-access share in Kentucky at 74.8%, with 18.3% 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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