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

North Dakota ranks #6 of 50 and sits in the upper third by population-weighted low-access (28.9%), per USDA FARA 2019.

What share of North Dakota has low food access?

28.9% of North Dakota residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+6.8 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in North Dakota?

17 census tracts in North Dakota are USDA food deserts (~46K low-income low-access residents); ~0.32 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in North Dakota?

Across North Dakota, 6.7% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-5.4 pts vs U.S.) - low tercile among states.

Which county in North Dakota has the worst food access?

Billings County has the highest low-access share at 100.0% (~0.4% of statewide low-access residents), with N/A SNAP.

Signature · 6.7% SNAP (6th pct among states)

Food access in North Dakota

North Dakota sits in the upper third nationally on low-access (28.9%, +6.8 pts vs U.S.), with USDA FARA 2019 + ACS 2024 context for 53 counties.

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

28.9%
low-access pop.: 17
food-desert tracts: 6.7%
on SNAP: 53
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State ND · North Dakota

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

LA-ELEVATED 28.9% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +6.8 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 17 food-desert tracts
SNAP-LIGHT 6.7% SNAP
VEH-OK 5.9% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 53 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Indiana ( -0.2 pts)

Where North Dakota sits by county inventory

North Dakota covers 53 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

North Dakota vs all states by county count

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

53 30th of 51 higher than 21 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, North Dakota is in the upper third on low-access (28.9%, #6 of 50; ~194K residents) - +6.8 pts vs the U.S. mean.

#6
among states by low-access: 194K
low-access residents: 46K
food-desert residents: 5.9%
households, no vehicle

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

North Dakota among higher low-access states

North Dakota ringed at #6 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: 6.7% SNAP (6th pct among states) (-5.4 pts vs U.S. SNAP) .

North Dakota sits in the upper third of states by population-weighted low-access share (28.9% , #6 of 50). The Atlas marks 17 food-desert tracts here (46K low-income low-access residents). Billings County alone holds about 0.4% of the state's low-access residents.

States near North Dakota's elevated low-access or SNAP band

SNAP-led peer set first for North Dakota (6.7%), with low-access neighbours deduped against it.

Similar low-access share

Nearest population-weighted low-access rates (28.9% here).

Indiana · 28.7% low-access
South Carolina · 28.7% low-access
South Dakota · 29.1% low-access
Wyoming · 29.7% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (6.7% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Kansas · 6.8% SNAP
New Hampshire · 6.1% SNAP
Idaho · 7.7% SNAP
Minnesota · 7.8% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
WY

29.7
SD

29.1
ND

28.9
IN

28.7
SC

28.7
DC

4.6

Billings

100
Golden Valley

100
Hettinger

100
Kidder

100
Nelson

100
Logan

95.8
Slope

95.2
Sheridan

90.7

All counties in North Dakota

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Billings County	1K	100.0%	N/A	2.0%	10.8%
Golden Valley County	2K	100.0%	16.3%	3.7%	19.8%
Hettinger County	2K	100.0%	4.2%	3.8%	11.0%
Kidder County	2K	100.0%	5.4%	1.1%	10.2%
Nelson County	3K	100.0%	4.9%	3.1%	7.2%
Logan County	2K	95.8%	5.1%	3.1%	12.4%
Slope County	766	95.2%	2.4%	0.8%	5.0%
Sheridan County	1K	90.7%	7.1%	3.0%	10.1%
Steele County	2K	84.5%	3.3%	0.7%	12.9%
Oliver County	2K	83.8%	1.2%	2.3%	5.2%
LaMoure County	4K	74.7%	5.7%	3.2%	8.7%
McHenry County	5K	69.0%	6.3%	3.2%	9.7%
Burke County	2K	68.8%	7.4%	4.8%	5.9%
Renville County	2K	57.5%	6.6%	2.7%	9.1%
McLean County	10K	55.2%	3.8%	3.3%	8.9%
Dunn County	4K	52.8%	3.7%	2.0%	7.4%
Grant County	2K	52.3%	11.6%	4.4%	16.6%
Pembina County	7K	45.9%	8.6%	3.2%	9.2%
Emmons County	3K	45.7%	9.1%	6.0%	9.1%
Bottineau County	6K	45.4%	5.2%	1.7%	7.6%
McKenzie County	14K	44.8%	3.4%	5.0%	12.0%
Wells County	4K	44.8%	6.5%	4.8%	9.1%
Benson County	6K	42.7%	20.5%	8.8%	25.6%
Sioux County	4K	40.3%	36.8%	12.7%	43.3%
Cavalier County	4K	36.3%	4.7%	3.8%	8.5%
Towner County	2K	34.8%	4.6%	2.6%	8.5%
Divide County	2K	33.0%	1.8%	3.6%	9.3%
Griggs County	2K	32.8%	5.7%	5.9%	11.7%
Morton County	34K	30.7%	4.2%	2.5%	8.0%
Williams County	40K	30.6%	6.0%	6.6%	8.6%
Barnes County	11K	30.2%	6.3%	6.4%	12.1%
Richland County	17K	29.9%	6.2%	6.3%	9.7%
Bowman County	3K	29.8%	5.1%	3.3%	13.4%
Eddy County	2K	28.9%	6.6%	3.8%	14.2%
Stutsman County	22K	27.7%	9.4%	6.6%	12.6%
Ramsey County	12K	27.6%	10.9%	10.7%	15.2%
Burleigh County	101K	27.2%	5.8%	6.1%	7.9%
Stark County	33K	26.8%	7.5%	7.9%	12.1%
Grand Forks County	73K	25.0%	6.0%	7.1%	13.2%
Ward County	69K	24.2%	7.1%	4.8%	8.6%
Mercer County	8K	23.4%	2.7%	2.5%	9.7%
Adams County	2K	22.6%	12.6%	9.4%	14.8%
Cass County	193K	21.0%	6.2%	6.8%	11.0%
McIntosh County	2K	19.9%	6.4%	5.6%	12.2%
Walsh County	10K	19.5%	4.1%	3.2%	11.2%
Pierce County	4K	19.3%	7.2%	2.4%	10.8%
Foster County	3K	18.3%	9.5%	8.0%	8.8%
Traill County	8K	17.8%	4.4%	4.6%	9.1%
Dickey County	5K	14.2%	5.5%	1.3%	11.8%
Mountrail County	10K	12.2%	4.7%	4.3%	14.5%
Ransom County	6K	12.2%	5.8%	4.0%	10.4%
Sargent County	4K	9.7%	5.4%	3.0%	6.9%
Rolette County	12K	9.6%	25.6%	10.8%	24.3%

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 North Dakota 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.