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

According to USDA FARA (2019), Michigan ranks #30 of 50 by population-weighted low-access share.

What share of Michigan has low food access?

23.2% of Michigan residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+1.1 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Michigan?

339 census tracts in Michigan are USDA food deserts (~630K low-income low-access residents); ~4.08 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Michigan?

Across Michigan, 13.5% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (+1.4 pts vs U.S.) - high tercile among states.

Which county in Michigan has the worst food access?

Schoolcraft County has the highest low-access share at 46.0% (~0.2% of statewide low-access residents), with 11.8% SNAP.

Signature · 339 LILA tracts (4.08/county)

Food access in Michigan

How far Michigan residents live from a supermarket (23.2% low-access), where LILA tracts sit, and SNAP/vehicle context from USDA FARA 2019 + Census ACS 2024.

Compiled by Plainfoodaccess, Food Access Editorial Process · December 31, 2024

23.2%
low-access pop.: 339
food-desert tracts: 13.5%
on SNAP: 83
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State MI · Michigan

LA-ELEVATED · ABOVE-NATIONAL · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-TYPICAL · VEH-OK · BOOK-MID

LA-ELEVATED 23.2% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +1.1 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 339 food-desert tracts
SNAP-TYPICAL 13.5% SNAP
VEH-OK 7.0% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 83 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Washington ( -0.1 pts)

Michigan's thick county book (83)

Michigan covers 83 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Michigan vs all states by county count

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

83 15th of 51 higher than 36 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

Mid-band statewide picture

About 2.3M Michigan residents (23.2%) live low-access - #30 of 50, with 339 USDA food-desert tracts.

#30
among states by low-access: 2.3M
low-access residents: 630K
food-desert residents: 7.0%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares. Low access = >1 mile urban / >10 miles rural from a supermarket.

Where Michigan sits on low-access

Michigan ringed at #30 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: 339 LILA tracts (4.08/county) .

Michigan is in the middle third nationally on low-access (23.2% , #30 of 50). SNAP averages 13.5% of households (upper SNAP band) and 7.0% have no vehicle , with 339 LILA tracts. County pressure peaks in Schoolcraft County at 46.0%.

Nationwide peers for Michigan's low-access or SNAP share

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Michigan. 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 (23.2% here).

Washington · 23.1% low-access
Nevada · 23.0% low-access
North Carolina · 22.9% low-access
Rhode Island · 23.6% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (13.5% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Mississippi · 13.5% SNAP
Alabama · 13.6% SNAP
Illinois · 13.7% SNAP
Kentucky · 13.2% SNAP

Source: USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) + Census ACS 2024 SNAP. Floor county_count ≥ 5.

NM

31.7
RI

23.6
MI

23.2
WA

23.1
NV

23
NC

22.9
DC

4.6

Schoolcraft

46
Muskegon

43
Gratiot

39.6
Ingham

38
Genesee

35.9
St. Clair

35.7
Otsego

35.2
Mackinac

34.6

All counties in Michigan

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Schoolcraft County	8K	46.0%	11.8%	5.3%	14.1%
Muskegon County	176K	43.0%	19.4%	7.4%	14.1%
Gratiot County	41K	39.6%	15.1%	5.2%	14.0%
Ingham County	284K	38.0%	12.1%	8.9%	16.7%
Genesee County	403K	35.9%	18.8%	7.4%	16.4%
St. Clair County	160K	35.7%	13.3%	5.9%	11.3%
Otsego County	26K	35.2%	10.5%	4.1%	8.0%
Mackinac County	11K	34.6%	11.9%	10.1%	16.1%
Ontonagon County	6K	34.2%	11.3%	4.7%	12.5%
Clinton County	80K	34.1%	6.6%	2.8%	9.7%
Ottawa County	301K	31.4%	6.0%	3.7%	8.3%
Eaton County	109K	30.9%	10.1%	5.3%	8.3%
Jackson County	160K	30.4%	13.7%	6.7%	11.6%
Kalamazoo County	262K	30.3%	11.2%	7.3%	12.7%
Oakland County	1.3M	30.2%	7.7%	5.3%	7.7%
Saginaw County	189K	30.1%	19.6%	7.0%	18.2%
Keweenaw County	2K	29.2%	7.4%	2.4%	15.2%
Calhoun County	134K	29.1%	13.5%	7.0%	13.9%
Livingston County	196K	28.9%	4.8%	3.2%	5.1%
Lenawee County	98K	28.8%	11.1%	5.4%	10.7%
Luce County	6K	28.5%	14.4%	5.6%	16.7%
Ionia County	67K	27.3%	13.6%	6.2%	10.6%
Macomb County	880K	27.3%	12.8%	6.2%	10.4%
Shiawassee County	68K	27.3%	15.0%	5.6%	12.0%
Dickinson County	26K	25.7%	8.3%	7.3%	10.5%
Mason County	29K	25.7%	12.9%	6.5%	14.1%
Berrien County	153K	25.2%	14.2%	8.0%	15.1%
Washtenaw County	370K	25.2%	8.5%	8.2%	14.2%
Wexford County	34K	24.8%	16.9%	6.0%	13.9%
Emmet County	34K	23.6%	7.4%	5.0%	8.5%
Presque Isle County	13K	23.2%	10.6%	6.3%	14.0%
Mecosta County	41K	22.9%	14.4%	7.1%	19.9%
Huron County	31K	21.1%	11.3%	6.3%	12.6%
Allegan County	121K	20.8%	7.8%	2.5%	8.4%
Kent County	663K	20.3%	10.3%	6.2%	10.1%
Chippewa County	36K	19.8%	13.1%	6.9%	14.0%
Midland County	84K	19.4%	11.7%	5.4%	10.7%
Marquette County	67K	17.1%	9.6%	5.9%	14.0%
Grand Traverse County	96K	17.0%	7.5%	4.9%	9.6%
Alpena County	29K	15.9%	16.7%	8.0%	18.0%
Menominee County	23K	15.9%	10.1%	6.9%	12.2%
Monroe County	156K	15.9%	10.0%	4.7%	10.5%
Alcona County	10K	15.6%	12.5%	3.5%	12.3%
Baraga County	8K	15.4%	16.2%	6.8%	15.2%
Delta County	37K	15.3%	12.4%	7.2%	12.7%
Tuscola County	53K	15.3%	14.2%	6.2%	12.8%
St. Joseph County	61K	15.2%	14.8%	7.9%	11.4%
Gogebic County	14K	15.1%	18.6%	7.6%	14.4%
Wayne County	1.8M	14.8%	23.0%	11.6%	20.8%
Sanilac County	40K	14.3%	12.6%	5.9%	15.3%
Iron County	12K	14.0%	13.3%	6.6%	17.0%
Branch County	45K	13.6%	12.8%	6.7%	16.4%
Cass County	52K	13.3%	12.8%	5.1%	11.9%
Roscommon County	24K	13.3%	16.8%	6.8%	15.5%
Gladwin County	26K	13.1%	16.2%	7.8%	14.9%
Bay County	103K	12.9%	13.6%	6.6%	13.2%
Iosco County	25K	12.9%	14.8%	7.2%	17.7%
Alger County	9K	12.8%	11.0%	5.6%	10.4%
Houghton County	38K	10.5%	9.7%	6.5%	16.5%
Manistee County	25K	9.6%	12.1%	4.8%	12.7%
Cheboygan County	26K	9.4%	12.6%	4.8%	12.4%
Oceana County	27K	9.3%	15.9%	4.3%	13.6%
Isabella County	65K	9.2%	11.4%	7.2%	21.9%
Lapeer County	89K	7.5%	11.4%	4.5%	9.7%
Crawford County	13K	6.4%	14.8%	8.3%	14.7%
Leelanau County	23K	5.7%	4.7%	2.8%	6.5%
Hillsdale County	46K	5.4%	12.0%	5.5%	14.4%
Van Buren County	76K	4.9%	13.7%	5.7%	14.3%
Kalkaska County	18K	4.6%	15.6%	5.0%	12.2%
Missaukee County	15K	4.3%	12.9%	4.7%	11.3%
Newaygo County	51K	4.3%	16.6%	4.7%	12.8%
Montmorency County	10K	3.9%	16.8%	6.6%	18.2%
Clare County	31K	2.7%	19.0%	7.8%	21.6%
Montcalm County	68K	2.5%	12.8%	5.7%	12.6%
Oscoda County	8K	1.6%	16.3%	9.5%	17.2%
Charlevoix County	26K	1.4%	8.0%	5.4%	8.7%
Lake County	13K	1.4%	19.1%	6.9%	20.5%
Antrim County	24K	0.2%	10.0%	3.5%	9.9%
Ogemaw County	21K	0.1%	18.3%	5.7%	16.7%
Osceola County	23K	0.1%	15.1%	7.0%	15.8%
Arenac County	15K	0.0%	16.1%	6.6%	11.7%
Barry County	63K	0.0%	9.4%	3.4%	8.4%
Benzie County	18K	0.0%	7.8%	2.5%	9.7%

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 Michigan 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.