State food-access profile · 62 counties

Food access in New York

How far New York 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

12.0%
low-access pop.: 194
food-desert tracts: 15.5%
on SNAP: 62
counties

The statewide picture

About 2.3M New York residents - 12.0% - live in a low-access area, and 194 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

2.3M
low-access residents: 462K
food-desert residents: 28.3%
households, no vehicle: 14.0%
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 New York stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, New York 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 York 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 62 counties and 19.9M residents, New York's population-weighted low-access share is 12.0%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 194 tracts in New York, home to roughly 462K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 15.5% of households, and 28.3% 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

12.0%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

2.3M

Low-access residents

15.5%

Avg. SNAP

Putnam

53.6
Hamilton

53.3
Montgomery

37.9
Dutchess

35.9
Otsego

34.2
Monroe

33.9
Orange

33.8
Warren

31.8

All counties in New York

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Putnam County	98K	53.6%	3.2%	4.6%	7.1%
Hamilton County	5K	53.3%	4.9%	3.5%	10.6%
Montgomery County	50K	37.9%	15.4%	11.4%	14.6%
Dutchess County	298K	35.9%	7.9%	7.2%	8.4%
Otsego County	60K	34.2%	9.9%	7.3%	12.5%
Monroe County	754K	33.9%	15.0%	10.8%	13.6%
Orange County	407K	33.8%	10.7%	9.4%	12.6%
Warren County	66K	31.8%	9.8%	7.8%	10.5%
Albany County	317K	31.4%	11.0%	12.6%	13.0%
Suffolk County	1.5M	28.5%	7.2%	5.1%	6.4%
Rockland County	342K	27.6%	11.9%	9.8%	16.2%
Onondaga County	471K	26.7%	14.4%	12.0%	13.8%
Chemung County	82K	24.9%	16.5%	9.8%	16.3%
Saratoga County	238K	24.4%	6.5%	4.7%	7.1%
Rensselaer County	160K	23.6%	10.9%	9.8%	11.8%
Ulster County	183K	23.4%	9.8%	7.3%	14.6%
Wyoming County	40K	21.7%	11.0%	7.3%	11.1%
Erie County	951K	20.9%	15.5%	11.5%	13.9%
Franklin County	47K	20.7%	17.5%	10.6%	18.2%
Niagara County	211K	19.8%	14.7%	9.9%	13.5%
Schenectady County	160K	18.8%	14.0%	12.4%	13.3%
Oneida County	229K	18.2%	16.7%	12.0%	15.5%
Livingston County	61K	18.0%	10.4%	5.8%	11.1%
Cortland County	46K	17.6%	15.5%	11.7%	12.8%
Madison County	67K	16.8%	11.6%	6.0%	10.0%
Columbia County	61K	16.7%	9.7%	6.1%	12.1%
Broome County	197K	16.4%	15.4%	13.5%	18.5%
St. Lawrence County	107K	16.4%	15.5%	10.1%	16.9%
Jefferson County	115K	15.2%	15.8%	9.7%	13.7%
Tompkins County	105K	15.2%	8.9%	14.1%	16.4%
Chautauqua County	126K	14.4%	19.9%	11.1%	17.4%
Steuben County	93K	14.1%	12.1%	10.1%	13.8%
Westchester County	1000K	14.0%	9.4%	14.3%	9.0%
Lewis County	27K	13.6%	12.5%	5.4%	12.3%
Fulton County	52K	12.5%	15.4%	10.2%	13.1%
Herkimer County	60K	12.4%	14.8%	9.6%	13.4%
Greene County	47K	11.7%	7.9%	7.3%	9.9%
Delaware County	44K	11.4%	12.4%	8.6%	14.4%
Ontario County	113K	9.9%	8.6%	6.1%	9.0%
Genesee County	58K	9.8%	13.6%	8.8%	10.6%
Clinton County	78K	9.3%	16.9%	10.4%	13.7%
Orleans County	40K	9.2%	15.4%	7.9%	12.7%
Tioga County	48K	8.3%	13.4%	7.2%	13.4%
Cattaraugus County	76K	7.9%	18.0%	10.7%	19.1%
Oswego County	118K	7.9%	16.0%	8.4%	16.3%
Washington County	61K	7.5%	12.1%	8.2%	10.7%
Schoharie County	30K	6.9%	13.7%	6.6%	11.7%
Seneca County	33K	6.6%	12.0%	8.8%	13.5%
Wayne County	91K	6.1%	11.4%	7.2%	11.4%
Nassau County	1.4M	5.6%	5.0%	6.8%	5.4%
Sullivan County	80K	4.6%	17.1%	8.6%	15.9%
Chenango County	46K	4.1%	14.4%	7.8%	11.8%
Allegany County	47K	3.9%	15.9%	7.7%	16.2%
Cayuga County	75K	3.3%	14.8%	9.1%	13.5%
Essex County	37K	2.9%	10.5%	7.4%	11.2%
Richmond County	495K	1.0%	13.4%	15.9%	11.5%
Schuyler County	18K	0.8%	15.1%	6.8%	14.8%
Bronx County	1.4M	0.6%	38.6%	61.1%	27.8%
Queens County	2.3M	0.6%	15.9%	37.4%	12.9%
Yates County	25K	0.6%	10.7%	14.0%	12.7%
Kings County	2.6M	0.0%	22.9%	56.4%	19.1%
New York County	1.6M	0.0%	14.4%	78.0%	16.5%

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

12.0% of New York residents, about 2.3M people, live in a low-access area.
194 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 462K low-income, low-access residents.
15.5% of households receive SNAP, and 28.3% have no vehicle.
Putnam County has the state's highest low-access share at 53.6%.

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 York has low food access?▼

12.0% of New York 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 York?▼

194 census tracts in New York are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 462K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in New York?▼

Across New York counties, an average of 15.5% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

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

Putnam County has the highest low-access share in New York at 53.6%, with 3.2% 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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