State food-access profile · 14 counties

Food access in Massachusetts

How far Massachusetts 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

27.8%
low-access pop.: 112
food-desert tracts: 14.6%
on SNAP: 14
counties

The statewide picture

About 1.8M Massachusetts residents - 27.8% - live in a low-access area, and 112 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

1.8M
low-access residents: 257K
food-desert residents: 11.6%
households, no vehicle: 10.1%
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 Massachusetts stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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 14 counties and 7.0M residents, Massachusetts's population-weighted low-access share is 27.8%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 112 tracts in Massachusetts, home to roughly 257K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 14.6% of households, and 11.6% 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

27.8%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

1.8M

Low-access residents

14.6%

Avg. SNAP

Barnstable

51
Hampshire

46.5
Plymouth

41.6
Norfolk

35.7
Worcester

34.5
Dukes

32.2
Berkshire

30.9
Essex

30.1

All counties in Massachusetts

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Barnstable County	232K	51.0%	9.4%	5.4%	7.7%
Hampshire County	162K	46.5%	12.5%	7.4%	11.3%
Plymouth County	535K	41.6%	12.7%	6.0%	7.1%
Norfolk County	730K	35.7%	9.4%	9.2%	6.7%
Worcester County	868K	34.5%	15.9%	8.3%	10.3%
Dukes County	21K	32.2%	6.6%	3.2%	4.4%
Berkshire County	129K	30.9%	16.5%	9.6%	11.4%
Essex County	813K	30.1%	16.6%	9.3%	9.4%
Bristol County	582K	26.4%	19.8%	9.5%	11.3%
Middlesex County	1.6M	24.6%	9.3%	10.3%	7.7%
Hampden County	463K	23.8%	25.5%	12.0%	16.3%
Franklin County	71K	19.1%	17.0%	7.9%	12.1%
Nantucket County	14K	13.6%	10.0%	3.5%	3.2%
Suffolk County	785K	1.0%	19.7%	31.6%	16.2%

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

27.8% of Massachusetts residents, about 1.8M people, live in a low-access area.
112 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 257K low-income, low-access residents.
14.6% of households receive SNAP, and 11.6% have no vehicle.
Barnstable County has the state's highest low-access share at 51.0%.

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 Massachusetts has low food access?▼

27.8% of Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts?▼

112 census tracts in Massachusetts are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 257K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Massachusetts?▼

Across Massachusetts counties, an average of 14.6% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Massachusetts has the worst food access?▼

Barnstable County has the highest low-access share in Massachusetts at 51.0%, with 9.4% 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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