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

Montana ranks #35 of 50 in the lower third on low-access (22.3%), same basis as the national cartogram.

What share of Montana has low food access?

22.3% of Montana residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+0.2 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Montana?

36 census tracts in Montana are USDA food deserts (~72K low-income low-access residents); ~0.64 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Montana?

Across Montana, 7.9% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-4.2 pts vs U.S.) - low tercile among states.

Which county in Montana has the worst food access?

Carter County has the highest low-access share at 100.0% (~0.5% of statewide low-access residents), with 5.3% SNAP.

Signature · 7.9% SNAP (15th pct among states)

Food access in Montana

Montana lands in the lower third on population-weighted low-access (22.3%), so distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band - county pages still show local pockets.

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

22.3%
low-access pop.: 36
food-desert tracts: 7.9%
on SNAP: 56
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State MT · Montana

LA-ELEVATED · PHOTO-FINISH · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-LIGHT · VEH-OK · BOOK-MID

LA-ELEVATED 22.3% low-access
PHOTO-FINISH +0.2 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 36 food-desert tracts
SNAP-LIGHT 7.9% SNAP
VEH-OK 4.7% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 56 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Maryland (+ 0.4 pts)

Where Montana sits by county inventory

Montana covers 56 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Montana vs all states by county count

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

56 28th of 51 higher than 23 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

Montana stays in the lower third nationally (22.3%, #35 of 50) with ~220K low-access residents and 36 LILA tracts.

#35
among states by low-access: 220K
low-access residents: 72K
food-desert residents: 4.7%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares. Lower-band statewide means still leave county outliers on the table below.

Montana among lower low-access states

Montana ringed at #35 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: 7.9% SNAP (15th pct among states) (-4.2 pts vs U.S. SNAP) .

Montana lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (22.3% , #35 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Carter County still reaches 100.0% locally while SNAP sits at 7.9% .

States near Montana's lower low-access or SNAP band

SNAP-led peer set first for Montana (7.9%), with low-access neighbours deduped against it.

Similar low-access share

Nearest population-weighted low-access rates (22.3% here).

Maryland · 22.7% low-access
Nebraska · 21.9% low-access
North Carolina · 22.9% low-access
Nevada · 23.0% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (7.9% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Minnesota · 7.8% SNAP
Idaho · 7.7% SNAP
South Dakota · 8.4% SNAP
Colorado · 8.5% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
NV

23
NC

22.9
MD

22.7
MT

22.3
NE

21.9
DC

4.6

Carter

100
Golden Valley

100
Meagher

100
Petroleum

100
Prairie

100
Treasure

100
Wibaux

100
Granite

98.3

All counties in Montana

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Carter County	1K	100.0%	5.3%	6.2%	15.4%
Golden Valley County	899	100.0%	0.8%	6.1%	17.0%
Meagher County	2K	100.0%	8.6%	0.5%	12.4%
Petroleum County	447	100.0%	0.5%	N/A	8.1%
Prairie County	1K	100.0%	14.5%	9.5%	20.6%
Treasure County	732	100.0%	6.9%	7.5%	12.3%
Wibaux County	1K	100.0%	4.6%	3.0%	15.8%
Granite County	3K	98.3%	5.7%	3.5%	10.2%
Judith Basin County	2K	61.3%	5.3%	2.4%	13.3%
Teton County	6K	60.2%	4.8%	6.2%	13.4%
Liberty County	2K	56.2%	6.5%	10.2%	25.8%
Garfield County	1K	55.3%	3.0%	1.6%	13.4%
Richland County	11K	53.8%	4.4%	5.1%	6.6%
Hill County	16K	53.5%	13.1%	8.6%	20.7%
Dawson County	9K	52.5%	3.5%	4.1%	8.7%
Powder River County	2K	52.4%	5.4%	3.2%	8.1%
Chouteau County	6K	49.6%	9.4%	5.1%	11.2%
Toole County	5K	43.6%	7.8%	7.3%	12.6%
Big Horn County	13K	42.5%	17.5%	6.9%	22.1%
Valley County	8K	41.9%	8.4%	5.8%	10.1%
Park County	18K	41.6%	6.0%	3.4%	12.3%
McCone County	2K	40.1%	0.3%	0.4%	5.0%
Fergus County	12K	39.4%	7.3%	9.4%	15.1%
Phillips County	4K	36.1%	7.0%	0.6%	10.5%
Sheridan County	4K	35.2%	4.2%	5.2%	10.4%
Wheatland County	2K	34.5%	6.1%	2.3%	23.0%
Blaine County	7K	34.0%	14.7%	7.6%	18.3%
Musselshell County	5K	31.9%	10.2%	5.9%	17.0%
Sanders County	13K	31.1%	11.2%	4.5%	15.4%
Jefferson County	13K	30.3%	5.1%	3.0%	5.7%
Madison County	9K	30.2%	3.5%	1.6%	6.2%
Glacier County	14K	28.1%	23.8%	6.0%	31.1%
Mineral County	5K	27.2%	13.7%	2.7%	13.5%
Daniels County	1K	26.8%	2.9%	2.6%	12.9%
Cascade County	85K	26.3%	10.4%	6.0%	13.1%
Roosevelt County	11K	26.1%	12.7%	10.4%	30.4%
Pondera County	6K	25.5%	9.0%	7.0%	21.9%
Rosebud County	8K	24.1%	13.5%	7.9%	24.5%
Sweet Grass County	4K	22.6%	4.6%	2.5%	7.9%
Fallon County	3K	22.4%	2.3%	4.9%	11.4%
Yellowstone County	169K	21.3%	7.9%	4.3%	9.2%
Beaverhead County	10K	20.1%	7.2%	0.8%	11.4%
Missoula County	121K	19.6%	7.5%	5.2%	10.1%
Custer County	12K	19.5%	8.2%	5.1%	11.3%
Powell County	7K	19.2%	6.7%	2.4%	5.6%
Lewis and Clark County	73K	17.1%	7.8%	5.3%	8.1%
Gallatin County	124K	16.6%	2.8%	2.4%	9.5%
Broadwater County	8K	15.4%	3.5%	2.6%	12.7%
Stillwater County	9K	15.3%	5.6%	3.2%	8.3%
Carbon County	11K	14.9%	6.1%	3.4%	7.8%
Flathead County	111K	12.9%	6.5%	4.2%	9.3%
Lincoln County	21K	7.5%	12.2%	6.4%	15.4%
Deer Lodge County	10K	7.2%	13.1%	7.1%	16.3%
Silver Bow County	36K	6.9%	13.2%	6.5%	14.8%
Lake County	33K	5.7%	10.7%	4.8%	17.2%
Ravalli County	47K	2.7%	6.5%	4.1%	8.8%

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 Montana 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.