State food-access profile · 33 counties

Food access in New Mexico

How far New Mexico 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

31.7%
low-access pop.: 126
food-desert tracts: 19.6%
on SNAP: 33
counties

The statewide picture

About 653K New Mexico residents - 31.7% - live in a low-access area, and 126 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

653K
low-access residents: 269K
food-desert residents: 5.7%
households, no vehicle: 17.9%
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 New Mexico stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, New Mexico 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 New Mexico 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 33 counties and 2.1M residents, New Mexico's population-weighted low-access share is 31.7%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 126 tracts in New Mexico, home to roughly 269K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 19.6% of households, and 5.7% 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

31.7%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

653K

Low-access residents

19.6%

Avg. SNAP

Catron

100
Harding

100
Mora

100
Valencia

58.8
McKinley

54.7
Sandoval

53.1
Socorro

50.2
San Miguel

45.4

All counties in New Mexico

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Catron County	4K	100.0%	9.3%	5.9%	24.8%
Harding County	741	100.0%	8.7%	7.7%	19.4%
Mora County	4K	100.0%	20.3%	2.5%	21.4%
Valencia County	78K	58.8%	24.0%	3.0%	18.1%
McKinley County	70K	54.7%	37.7%	10.7%	33.2%
Sandoval County	154K	53.1%	13.8%	3.2%	10.0%
Socorro County	16K	50.2%	24.8%	6.7%	33.2%
San Miguel County	27K	45.4%	29.2%	8.7%	24.4%
Los Alamos County	19K	44.6%	4.2%	2.2%	3.5%
Torrance County	15K	40.7%	27.1%	4.3%	18.3%
Cibola County	27K	39.3%	23.6%	9.1%	28.4%
San Juan County	121K	39.1%	23.1%	6.7%	23.1%
Lincoln County	20K	38.4%	14.7%	3.9%	19.3%
Rio Arriba County	40K	38.2%	18.8%	3.8%	18.2%
Quay County	9K	38.0%	30.5%	11.7%	27.1%
Luna County	26K	37.4%	30.1%	5.2%	28.6%
Hidalgo County	4K	34.4%	21.2%	9.9%	23.1%
Doña Ana County	224K	32.9%	24.1%	6.1%	21.3%
Curry County	48K	32.4%	25.5%	6.1%	20.5%
Roosevelt County	19K	31.6%	21.2%	7.4%	21.8%
Eddy County	61K	30.5%	14.2%	4.7%	13.8%
Santa Fe County	156K	30.2%	11.0%	4.2%	12.0%
Sierra County	12K	29.2%	15.9%	7.3%	21.4%
Colfax County	12K	28.5%	23.4%	6.6%	18.2%
Guadalupe County	4K	28.5%	40.7%	4.8%	25.5%
Chaves County	64K	28.2%	25.0%	5.5%	24.3%
Taos County	35K	28.2%	17.3%	3.0%	15.5%
Union County	4K	26.8%	20.2%	4.7%	16.6%
Grant County	28K	26.6%	19.1%	3.2%	19.5%
Otero County	69K	23.9%	21.6%	5.0%	19.3%
Lea County	74K	20.7%	19.8%	4.3%	18.7%
Bernalillo County	674K	19.4%	17.0%	6.4%	15.2%
De Baca County	2K	17.3%	18.7%	5.6%	15.5%

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

31.7% of New Mexico residents, about 653K people, live in a low-access area.
126 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 269K low-income, low-access residents.
19.6% of households receive SNAP, and 5.7% have no vehicle.
Catron County has the state's highest low-access share at 100.0%.

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 New Mexico has low food access?▼

31.7% of New Mexico 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 New Mexico?▼

126 census tracts in New Mexico are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 269K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in New Mexico?▼

Across New Mexico counties, an average of 19.6% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in New Mexico has the worst food access?▼

Catron County has the highest low-access share in New Mexico at 100.0%, with 9.3% 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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