Signature · 131 LILA tracts (5.46/county)
Food access in Maryland
Maryland lands in the lower third on population-weighted low-access (22.7%), so distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band - county pages still show local pockets.
- 22.7%
- low-access pop.
- 131
- food-desert tracts
- 10.9%
- on SNAP
- 24
- counties
USDA FARA state access plate
State MD · Maryland
LA-ELEVATED · PHOTO-FINISH · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-TYPICAL · VEH-TYPICAL · BOOK-LIGHT
- LA-ELEVATED 22.7% low-access
- PHOTO-FINISH +0.6 pts vs US
- LILA-CLUSTER 131 food-desert tracts
- SNAP-TYPICAL 10.9% SNAP
- VEH-TYPICAL 8.5% no vehicle
- BOOK-LIGHT 24 counties
Nearest low-access peer: North Carolina (+ 0.2 pts)
Maryland's slim county book (24)
Maryland covers 24 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.
Maryland vs all states by county count
Where this state's county inventory sits among every tracked jurisdiction
24 38th of 51 higher than 13 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
Maryland stays in the lower third nationally (22.7%, #34 of 50) with ~1.3M low-access residents and 131 LILA tracts.
- #34
- among states by low-access
- 1.3M
- low-access residents
- 205K
- food-desert residents
- 8.5%
- households, no vehicle
Population-weighted tract shares. Lower-band statewide means still leave county outliers on the table below.
Maryland among lower low-access states
Maryland ringed at #34 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: 131 LILA tracts (5.46/county) .
Maryland lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (22.7% , #34 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Calvert County still reaches 38.6% locally while SNAP sits at 10.9% on a slim 24-unit atlas book.
States near Maryland's lower low-access or SNAP band
Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Maryland. 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 (22.7% here).
- North Carolina · 22.9% low-access
- Nevada · 23.0% low-access
- Montana · 22.3% low-access
- Washington · 23.1% low-access
Source: USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) + Census ACS 2024 SNAP. Floor county_count ≥ 5.
Maryland vs nearby low low-access peers
Poles + nearest state peers, not a full national reprint
- NM
NM 31.7%
31.7 % low-access
- WA
WA 23.1%
23.1 % low-access
- NV
NV 23%
23 % low-access
- NC
NC 22.9%
22.9 % low-access
- MD
MD 22.7%
22.7 % low-access
- MT
MT 22.3%
22.3 % low-access
- DC 4.6
DC 4.6%
4.6 % low-access
Highest low-access counties in Maryland
Calvert County ~2.6% of statewide low-access residents
- Calvert
Calvert County, MD
38.6 % low-access
- Charles
Charles County, MD
37.4 % low-access
- Anne Arundel
Anne Arundel County, MD
33.7 % low-access
- Worcester
Worcester County, MD
30.7 % low-access
- Allegany
Allegany County, MD
30.4 % low-access
- Wicomico
Wicomico County, MD
29.7 % low-access
- Carroll
Carroll County, MD
29.5 % low-access
- Washington
Washington County, MD
28.7 % low-access
All counties in Maryland
| County | Low-access | SNAP |
|---|---|---|
| Calvert County | 38.6% | 5.1% |
| Charles County | 37.4% | 9.7% |
| Anne Arundel County | 33.7% | 6.5% |
| Worcester County | 30.7% | 9.9% |
| Allegany County | 30.4% | 21.0% |
| Wicomico County | 29.7% | 17.2% |
| Carroll County | 29.5% | 5.2% |
| Washington County | 28.7% | 15.3% |
| Harford County | 28.2% | 7.4% |
| Frederick County | 25.9% | 7.4% |
| Cecil County | 24.7% | 13.4% |
| Prince George's County | 24.0% | 12.2% |
| Queen Anne's County | 23.5% | 7.2% |
| Howard County | 22.6% | 5.6% |
| Baltimore County | 21.8% | 11.3% |
| St. Mary's County | 21.7% | 11.2% |
| Montgomery County | 20.0% | 7.4% |
| Somerset County | 18.3% | 24.9% |
| Garrett County | 14.1% | 15.1% |
| Dorchester County | 13.9% | 21.0% |
| Talbot County | 13.7% | 10.3% |
| Caroline County | 9.2% | 17.6% |
| Baltimore city | 4.5% | 23.2% |
| Kent County | 1.7% | 12.3% |
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 . 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 Maryland 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.