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

Minnesota ranks #11 of 50 and sits in the upper third by population-weighted low-access (27.4%), per USDA FARA 2019.

What share of Minnesota has low food access?

27.4% of Minnesota residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+5.3 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Minnesota?

192 census tracts in Minnesota are USDA food deserts (~302K low-income low-access residents); ~2.21 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Minnesota?

Across Minnesota, 7.8% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-4.3 pts vs U.S.) - low tercile among states.

Which county in Minnesota has the worst food access?

Red Lake County has the highest low-access share at 99.2% (~0.3% of statewide low-access residents), with 5.3% SNAP.

Signature · 7.8% SNAP (13th pct among states)

Food access in Minnesota

Minnesota sits in the upper third nationally on low-access (27.4%, +5.3 pts vs U.S.), with USDA FARA 2019 + ACS 2024 context for 87 counties.

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

27.4%
low-access pop.: 192
food-desert tracts: 7.8%
on SNAP: 87
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State MN · Minnesota

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

LA-ELEVATED 27.4% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +5.3 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 192 food-desert tracts
SNAP-LIGHT 7.8% SNAP
VEH-OK 6.6% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 87 counties

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

Minnesota's thick county book (87)

Minnesota covers 87 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Minnesota vs all states by county count

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

87 14th of 51 higher than 37 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

Upper-band statewide picture

According to USDA FARA, Minnesota is in the upper third on low-access (27.4%, #11 of 50; ~1.5M residents) - +5.3 pts vs the U.S. mean.

#11
among states by low-access: 1.5M
low-access residents: 302K
food-desert residents: 6.6%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares (not a county average). Upper-band states often pair elevated low-access with clustered LILA tracts.

Minnesota among higher low-access states

Minnesota ringed at #11 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: 7.8% SNAP (13th pct among states) (-4.3 pts vs U.S. SNAP) .

Minnesota sits in the upper third of states by population-weighted low-access share (27.4% , #11 of 50). The Atlas marks 192 food-desert tracts here (302K low-income low-access residents). Red Lake County alone holds about 0.3% of the state's low-access residents. County book is thick (87 units) so statewide averages mask more local spread.

States near Minnesota's elevated low-access or SNAP band

SNAP-led peer set first for Minnesota (7.8%), with low-access neighbours deduped against it.

Similar low-access share

Nearest population-weighted low-access rates (27.4% here).

New Hampshire · 27.5% low-access
Tennessee · 27.2% low-access
Massachusetts · 27.8% low-access
Arizona · 26.8% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (7.8% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Idaho · 7.7% SNAP
Montana · 7.9% SNAP
Nebraska · 8.1% SNAP
South Dakota · 8.4% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
MA

27.8
NH

27.5
MN

27.4
DE

27.3
TN

27.2
DC

4.6

Red Lake

99.2
Marshall

61
McLeod

47.3
Washington

45.8
Nicollet

44.9
Grant

44.1
Lake of the Woods

41.2
Waseca

40.6

All counties in Minnesota

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Red Lake County	4K	99.2%	5.3%	3.4%	7.2%
Marshall County	9K	61.0%	6.5%	4.6%	8.3%
McLeod County	37K	47.3%	7.8%	3.4%	8.7%
Washington County	276K	45.8%	4.1%	3.8%	5.1%
Nicollet County	34K	44.9%	6.0%	4.1%	8.0%
Grant County	6K	44.1%	8.3%	4.6%	11.6%
Lake of the Woods County	4K	41.2%	3.0%	2.4%	6.4%
Waseca County	19K	40.6%	8.8%	4.9%	7.5%
Lyon County	26K	40.1%	9.4%	8.3%	12.2%
Koochiching County	12K	39.9%	14.4%	8.9%	10.9%
Kandiyohi County	44K	39.8%	10.5%	5.5%	9.1%
Clearwater County	9K	39.2%	13.1%	9.2%	12.6%
Blue Earth County	70K	38.9%	8.8%	6.6%	15.7%
Redwood County	15K	38.9%	9.8%	6.0%	13.3%
Chisago County	58K	38.7%	5.3%	3.9%	6.0%
Big Stone County	5K	38.4%	9.5%	4.4%	12.9%
Anoka County	370K	38.3%	7.2%	4.6%	7.0%
Carver County	110K	38.3%	3.7%	3.8%	4.4%
Roseau County	15K	37.8%	5.5%	6.1%	12.2%
Mahnomen County	5K	35.2%	21.4%	9.0%	18.3%
Dakota County	446K	34.6%	4.9%	4.9%	5.8%
Becker County	35K	34.5%	11.6%	5.8%	12.9%
Aitkin County	16K	33.8%	8.9%	5.0%	13.1%
Isanti County	43K	33.5%	6.7%	3.9%	7.5%
Polk County	31K	33.4%	10.0%	7.4%	11.9%
Todd County	26K	32.4%	7.3%	6.5%	11.5%
Beltrami County	47K	32.3%	13.5%	5.9%	16.1%
Yellow Medicine County	9K	32.3%	7.4%	4.6%	8.6%
Renville County	15K	31.8%	8.6%	5.7%	11.0%
Cook County	6K	31.4%	4.1%	2.5%	10.2%
Martin County	20K	31.1%	12.3%	9.9%	13.1%
Morrison County	34K	31.0%	8.3%	4.8%	11.0%
Steele County	37K	30.9%	7.7%	6.2%	8.3%
Pipestone County	9K	30.8%	10.8%	6.0%	10.5%
Benton County	42K	30.0%	8.6%	6.1%	9.9%
Nobles County	22K	29.5%	9.0%	5.5%	14.0%
Scott County	155K	29.1%	4.5%	3.1%	4.6%
Wilkin County	6K	29.1%	10.6%	6.7%	14.1%
St. Louis County	200K	27.3%	10.2%	8.0%	13.2%
Meeker County	23K	26.1%	8.4%	4.2%	9.1%
Norman County	6K	26.0%	10.9%	5.1%	10.1%
Kittson County	4K	25.9%	5.1%	3.3%	9.1%
Wright County	148K	25.9%	4.4%	3.0%	5.2%
Swift County	10K	25.8%	12.3%	7.1%	12.0%
Hennepin County	1.3M	25.5%	8.1%	9.3%	10.0%
Itasca County	45K	25.4%	10.7%	4.7%	12.2%
Stearns County	161K	25.3%	9.5%	6.0%	12.9%
Douglas County	40K	24.7%	6.0%	5.0%	9.0%
Freeborn County	31K	23.7%	9.5%	5.8%	10.6%
Otter Tail County	60K	23.4%	6.5%	5.6%	8.7%
Hubbard County	22K	23.1%	10.2%	4.5%	10.8%
Rock County	10K	21.1%	6.9%	5.8%	10.6%
Ramsey County	543K	20.8%	11.4%	10.2%	12.3%
Olmsted County	164K	20.0%	6.8%	6.9%	7.5%
Clay County	66K	19.2%	9.9%	9.1%	13.3%
Carlton County	37K	18.9%	7.4%	5.7%	11.9%
Mower County	40K	18.8%	10.6%	5.2%	10.4%
Rice County	68K	18.4%	7.9%	5.6%	10.2%
Pennington County	14K	18.2%	7.2%	5.7%	10.5%
Jackson County	10K	17.4%	5.2%	3.9%	8.6%
Brown County	26K	17.2%	6.5%	4.9%	8.5%
Sherburne County	101K	16.3%	5.0%	4.2%	5.1%
Chippewa County	12K	16.2%	9.8%	6.9%	14.5%
Traverse County	3K	15.5%	16.9%	5.8%	11.3%
Murray County	8K	14.5%	6.2%	4.5%	9.3%
Goodhue County	48K	14.3%	7.6%	6.8%	9.3%
Dodge County	21K	14.0%	6.1%	3.8%	7.0%
Cass County	31K	13.8%	11.6%	4.2%	12.8%
Houston County	19K	13.7%	3.4%	3.2%	6.6%
Crow Wing County	68K	13.4%	8.7%	4.9%	9.9%
Stevens County	10K	13.0%	9.8%	5.0%	11.1%
Faribault County	14K	12.5%	10.1%	4.9%	10.4%
Pope County	11K	12.4%	7.1%	6.0%	9.4%
Lincoln County	6K	12.2%	7.0%	3.3%	11.9%
Winona County	50K	12.1%	6.9%	5.3%	14.8%
Pine County	30K	12.0%	10.9%	6.3%	11.1%
Kanabec County	16K	11.9%	9.5%	3.4%	10.0%
Lake County	11K	11.6%	8.6%	3.5%	8.6%
Lac qui Parle County	7K	11.4%	8.8%	3.4%	8.1%
Wabasha County	22K	10.5%	5.5%	5.2%	7.1%
Cottonwood County	11K	8.8%	9.4%	5.9%	15.0%
Mille Lacs County	27K	7.8%	11.0%	5.5%	10.4%
Wadena County	14K	7.4%	14.3%	7.6%	12.5%
Le Sueur County	29K	5.0%	7.4%	3.5%	6.4%
Sibley County	15K	3.3%	8.3%	4.1%	9.0%
Watonwan County	11K	3.3%	9.4%	7.9%	13.2%
Fillmore County	21K	2.7%	6.7%	5.8%	8.4%

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 Minnesota 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.