State food-access profile · 64 counties

Food access in Louisiana

How far Louisiana 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

26.4%
low-access pop.: 258
food-desert tracts: 17.3%
on SNAP: 64
counties

The statewide picture

About 1.2M Louisiana residents - 26.4% - live in a low-access area, and 258 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

1.2M
low-access residents: 483K
food-desert residents: 8.4%
households, no vehicle: 19.0%
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 Louisiana stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 64 counties and 4.6M residents, Louisiana's population-weighted low-access share is 26.4%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 258 tracts in Louisiana, home to roughly 483K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 17.3% of households, and 8.4% 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.

Counties

26.4%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

1.2M

Low-access residents

17.3%

Avg. SNAP

Tensas Parish

58.9
Beauregard Parish

55.8
Plaquemines Parish

54.9
Vernon Parish

49.3
St. Charles Parish

47.2
Ascension Parish

42.3
Rapides Parish

40.6
St. John the Baptist Parish

39.6

All counties in Louisiana

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Tensas Parish	4K	58.9%	31.8%	9.5%	34.4%
Beauregard Parish	37K	55.8%	17.5%	5.0%	14.3%
Plaquemines Parish	23K	54.9%	14.8%	1.9%	12.9%
Vernon Parish	47K	49.3%	14.6%	6.2%	19.0%
St. Charles Parish	51K	47.2%	10.3%	2.5%	11.7%
Ascension Parish	130K	42.3%	12.2%	4.7%	10.3%
Rapides Parish	128K	40.6%	19.1%	9.4%	19.9%
St. John the Baptist Parish	41K	39.6%	20.2%	5.2%	14.4%
Tangipahoa Parish	137K	38.8%	21.2%	6.1%	19.2%
West Feliciana Parish	15K	38.1%	14.2%	5.1%	11.8%
Concordia Parish	18K	36.8%	26.9%	10.4%	31.8%
Union Parish	21K	36.6%	20.4%	7.3%	29.4%
Bienville Parish	13K	35.6%	22.9%	9.8%	29.2%
St. Bernard Parish	44K	35.6%	25.1%	8.2%	23.0%
Catahoula Parish	9K	35.3%	19.3%	10.2%	24.3%
Caddo Parish	230K	34.8%	21.6%	9.9%	22.4%
Calcasieu Parish	207K	34.1%	15.7%	7.2%	17.4%
Lincoln Parish	48K	34.1%	23.9%	9.5%	31.2%
East Carroll Parish	7K	33.6%	29.6%	9.2%	35.2%
Ouachita Parish	158K	33.1%	19.8%	8.6%	23.2%
St. Tammany Parish	272K	32.8%	9.0%	4.3%	11.4%
Pointe Coupee Parish	20K	29.2%	12.0%	7.7%	16.5%
East Baton Rouge Parish	453K	28.8%	15.9%	8.1%	19.6%
Webster Parish	36K	28.5%	27.0%	10.3%	23.1%
Allen Parish	22K	28.1%	26.5%	7.9%	23.1%
Livingston Parish	148K	28.1%	13.0%	3.8%	12.9%
Natchitoches Parish	37K	27.9%	19.5%	9.3%	25.4%
Sabine Parish	22K	27.7%	22.0%	10.2%	23.7%
Lafayette Parish	248K	27.4%	12.5%	6.6%	17.1%
De Soto Parish	27K	27.0%	20.1%	8.9%	21.5%
Lafourche Parish	96K	26.8%	17.0%	6.9%	17.0%
Terrebonne Parish	106K	26.3%	16.3%	6.9%	16.0%
Franklin Parish	19K	25.9%	24.5%	8.0%	24.1%
Bossier Parish	130K	25.8%	10.6%	7.3%	15.9%
Cameron Parish	5K	25.6%	8.6%	2.7%	7.4%
St. James Parish	20K	23.6%	14.1%	5.6%	11.1%
St. Mary Parish	48K	23.0%	22.8%	11.3%	20.8%
Morehouse Parish	25K	22.9%	30.0%	11.6%	29.3%
LaSalle Parish	15K	22.6%	16.7%	6.7%	16.0%
Jackson Parish	15K	20.9%	15.2%	10.1%	22.3%
Avoyelles Parish	39K	20.5%	27.9%	9.8%	27.8%
St. Landry Parish	82K	19.7%	21.7%	9.9%	26.8%
Grant Parish	22K	19.5%	18.5%	6.9%	17.0%
West Baton Rouge Parish	28K	18.9%	12.4%	5.4%	12.9%
Orleans Parish	372K	17.6%	18.5%	17.4%	22.6%
Claiborne Parish	14K	17.3%	33.8%	14.2%	32.0%
Jefferson Davis Parish	32K	15.6%	20.3%	5.5%	14.6%
Iberia Parish	69K	15.5%	23.8%	12.0%	22.8%
Winn Parish	13K	15.5%	18.4%	8.6%	24.3%
St. Martin Parish	51K	14.7%	20.4%	9.4%	15.3%
Jefferson Parish	431K	13.2%	14.1%	7.4%	16.6%
Richland Parish	20K	12.0%	24.6%	8.7%	24.0%
Red River Parish	7K	11.9%	25.0%	8.0%	25.8%
Evangeline Parish	32K	9.5%	31.2%	11.6%	24.3%
Vermilion Parish	57K	9.0%	17.9%	9.8%	20.2%
Washington Parish	45K	8.4%	28.2%	11.5%	24.3%
Caldwell Parish	10K	7.9%	23.5%	8.3%	29.8%
Acadia Parish	57K	6.6%	24.4%	10.5%	25.0%
St. Helena Parish	11K	6.0%	30.7%	10.4%	32.4%
Madison Parish	10K	5.7%	30.4%	14.0%	34.5%
Iberville Parish	30K	5.2%	21.1%	6.4%	19.9%
West Carroll Parish	9K	4.7%	23.0%	5.9%	16.2%
East Feliciana Parish	19K	1.5%	14.5%	5.5%	16.2%
Assumption Parish	20K	0.9%	19.9%	9.0%	15.3%

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

26.4% of Louisiana residents, about 1.2M people, live in a low-access area.
258 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 483K low-income, low-access residents.
17.3% of households receive SNAP, and 8.4% have no vehicle.
Tensas Parish has the state's highest low-access share at 58.9%.

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 Louisiana has low food access?▼

26.4% of Louisiana 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 Louisiana?▼

258 census tracts in Louisiana are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 483K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Louisiana?▼

Across Louisiana counties, an average of 17.3% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Louisiana has the worst food access?▼

Tensas Parish has the highest low-access share in Louisiana at 58.9%, with 31.8% 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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