State food-access profile · 82 counties

Food access in Mississippi

How far Mississippi 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.: 208
food-desert tracts: 13.5%
on SNAP: 82
counties

The statewide picture

About 782K Mississippi residents - 26.4% - live in a low-access area, and 208 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

782K
low-access residents: 338K
food-desert residents: 6.3%
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 Mississippi stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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 82 counties and 2.9M residents, Mississippi'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 208 tracts in Mississippi, home to roughly 338K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 13.5% of households, and 6.3% 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)

782K

Low-access residents

13.5%

Avg. SNAP

Quitman

90.1
Carroll

56.1
Tallahatchie

51.2
Bolivar

50.9
DeSoto

48.7
Hancock

43.5
Lamar

38
Lafayette

37.5

All counties in Mississippi

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Quitman County	6K	90.1%	21.5%	10.9%	29.6%
Carroll County	10K	56.1%	16.9%	4.5%	17.9%
Tallahatchie County	12K	51.2%	23.0%	10.2%	24.6%
Bolivar County	30K	50.9%	26.0%	10.1%	32.6%
DeSoto County	191K	48.7%	7.5%	3.8%	9.7%
Hancock County	46K	43.5%	10.5%	3.5%	13.8%
Lamar County	66K	38.0%	9.6%	4.4%	14.7%
Lafayette County	58K	37.5%	5.2%	6.7%	18.5%
Kemper County	9K	37.0%	13.2%	3.4%	24.8%
Sunflower County	24K	36.2%	33.1%	8.9%	28.9%
Benton County	8K	35.7%	17.2%	6.8%	21.5%
Hinds County	219K	34.9%	14.8%	8.1%	22.7%
Harrison County	211K	33.7%	15.0%	6.5%	17.1%
Oktibbeha County	52K	33.6%	11.8%	5.4%	25.5%
Franklin County	8K	32.4%	10.2%	3.1%	25.4%
Jackson County	145K	32.4%	9.2%	4.8%	13.8%
Lauderdale County	72K	32.1%	18.4%	9.5%	26.3%
Lowndes County	58K	32.1%	13.1%	6.1%	17.3%
Scott County	28K	31.4%	15.0%	6.4%	22.2%
Yazoo County	25K	31.1%	26.0%	18.2%	30.8%
Tate County	28K	29.6%	10.4%	3.0%	16.9%
Leflore County	27K	29.1%	28.1%	14.7%	31.5%
Washington County	43K	29.1%	17.6%	11.9%	26.4%
Copiah County	28K	28.5%	18.0%	8.1%	23.0%
Rankin County	159K	28.4%	5.5%	3.2%	9.8%
Adams County	29K	28.3%	16.5%	6.4%	27.0%
Attala County	18K	27.1%	15.6%	8.1%	18.0%
Issaquena County	928	25.8%	24.0%	14.0%	16.2%
Stone County	19K	25.7%	15.5%	6.1%	16.9%
Holmes County	16K	25.3%	33.0%	15.9%	36.4%
Madison County	112K	24.0%	7.2%	5.3%	11.2%
Walthall County	14K	23.0%	20.9%	5.0%	18.8%
Marshall County	34K	22.5%	13.9%	5.0%	23.0%
Coahoma County	21K	22.3%	26.9%	14.9%	35.5%
Yalobusha County	12K	22.2%	11.8%	5.8%	21.5%
Perry County	11K	21.8%	9.9%	3.8%	18.4%
Forrest County	78K	21.7%	16.6%	7.1%	21.0%
Montgomery County	10K	21.4%	20.1%	8.8%	25.2%
Panola County	33K	21.3%	16.3%	6.4%	23.3%
Clay County	18K	20.4%	21.0%	6.8%	20.9%
Lawrence County	12K	20.4%	18.8%	4.6%	23.7%
Leake County	21K	20.4%	13.1%	8.7%	20.5%
Lee County	83K	19.9%	10.4%	6.0%	14.6%
Alcorn County	34K	18.9%	16.1%	9.5%	15.8%
Winston County	18K	18.7%	18.5%	7.9%	26.9%
Humphreys County	7K	18.5%	28.4%	13.0%	27.0%
Wayne County	20K	17.9%	20.9%	6.0%	22.8%
Lincoln County	35K	17.7%	11.8%	5.9%	21.2%
Warren County	43K	17.2%	13.1%	6.0%	19.5%
Jefferson Davis County	11K	16.6%	21.9%	6.1%	28.7%
Pontotoc County	32K	16.3%	9.7%	2.2%	16.7%
Noxubee County	10K	16.1%	31.3%	9.7%	26.3%
Newton County	21K	16.0%	11.7%	5.0%	24.7%
Tunica County	9K	15.5%	28.3%	10.7%	31.1%
Grenada County	21K	15.4%	11.7%	7.9%	24.6%
Jones County	66K	15.2%	14.2%	4.4%	18.7%
Marion County	24K	14.5%	13.0%	5.5%	19.7%
Amite County	13K	13.9%	15.2%	5.8%	27.6%
Clarke County	15K	13.5%	16.0%	5.9%	17.4%
Smith County	14K	13.5%	9.0%	4.8%	17.0%
Choctaw County	8K	12.9%	13.6%	5.4%	18.4%
Claiborne County	9K	12.9%	23.7%	12.0%	30.7%
Itawamba County	24K	12.8%	7.3%	4.2%	15.5%
Simpson County	26K	12.4%	12.4%	4.0%	20.0%
Jasper County	16K	12.3%	15.9%	10.1%	19.4%
Wilkinson County	8K	11.8%	18.5%	7.7%	27.4%
Union County	28K	11.5%	7.2%	5.4%	15.1%
Pearl River County	57K	11.4%	13.4%	3.8%	16.5%
George County	25K	10.6%	11.0%	5.9%	18.3%
Pike County	40K	10.5%	18.2%	5.8%	27.1%
Webster County	10K	10.5%	17.3%	5.4%	16.4%
Jefferson County	7K	10.0%	21.4%	4.1%	32.5%
Chickasaw County	17K	9.4%	14.8%	8.9%	23.5%
Monroe County	34K	8.6%	13.1%	5.2%	18.0%
Sharkey County	4K	6.5%	24.3%	8.0%	30.9%
Prentiss County	25K	6.0%	11.5%	5.4%	16.8%
Greene County	14K	5.4%	13.7%	6.7%	18.3%
Neshoba County	29K	4.5%	16.2%	6.2%	23.1%
Tippah County	22K	4.5%	9.1%	2.2%	18.9%
Calhoun County	13K	3.1%	13.1%	6.8%	20.4%
Covington County	18K	0.0%	17.9%	8.8%	19.8%
Tishomingo County	19K	0.0%	8.9%	4.8%	18.0%

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 Mississippi residents, about 782K people, live in a low-access area.
208 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 338K low-income, low-access residents.
13.5% of households receive SNAP, and 6.3% have no vehicle.
Quitman County has the state's highest low-access share at 90.1%.

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 Mississippi has low food access?▼

26.4% of Mississippi 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 Mississippi?▼

208 census tracts in Mississippi are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 338K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Mississippi?▼

Across Mississippi counties, an average of 13.5% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Mississippi has the worst food access?▼

Quitman County has the highest low-access share in Mississippi at 90.1%, with 21.5% 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).

← All states · Methodology