State food-access profile · 67 counties

Food access in Pennsylvania

How far Pennsylvania 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

21.4%
low-access pop.: 238
food-desert tracts: 14.2%
on SNAP: 67
counties

The statewide picture

About 2.7M Pennsylvania residents - 21.4% - live in a low-access area, and 238 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

2.7M
low-access residents: 583K
food-desert residents: 10.2%
households, no vehicle: 11.7%
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 Pennsylvania stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 67 counties and 13.0M residents, Pennsylvania's population-weighted low-access share is 21.4%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 238 tracts in Pennsylvania, home to roughly 583K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 14.2% of households, and 10.2% 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

21.4%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

2.7M

Low-access residents

14.2%

Avg. SNAP

Chester

45.1
Forest

39.4
Dauphin

35.4
Bucks

34.6
Sullivan

34.4
Washington

34.4
Erie

34
Westmoreland

32.8

All counties in Pennsylvania

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Chester County	548K	45.1%	5.6%	4.3%	6.0%
Forest County	7K	39.4%	14.0%	6.7%	11.9%
Dauphin County	290K	35.4%	13.3%	9.4%	12.9%
Bucks County	647K	34.6%	7.8%	4.9%	6.1%
Sullivan County	6K	34.4%	8.1%	5.1%	11.6%
Washington County	210K	34.4%	13.9%	7.3%	9.6%
Erie County	269K	34.0%	19.1%	9.9%	15.0%
Westmoreland County	353K	32.8%	13.9%	6.2%	10.3%
Beaver County	166K	32.5%	13.8%	7.5%	9.9%
Montgomery County	868K	31.3%	6.6%	5.7%	6.5%
York County	463K	29.5%	11.3%	5.9%	8.4%
Cumberland County	268K	27.0%	7.8%	5.0%	7.5%
Allegheny County	1.2M	26.4%	13.0%	11.9%	11.5%
Lehigh County	379K	25.5%	15.4%	8.3%	11.6%
Northampton County	319K	24.5%	10.3%	6.5%	8.8%
Butler County	197K	24.3%	9.0%	5.5%	8.1%
Franklin County	157K	24.3%	11.0%	4.6%	8.5%
Monroe County	168K	23.4%	15.1%	5.5%	10.7%
Tioga County	41K	23.4%	14.0%	5.5%	11.7%
Lycoming County	113K	23.3%	14.9%	9.7%	12.8%
Bedford County	48K	22.7%	15.8%	5.7%	11.6%
Greene County	35K	22.6%	20.8%	4.7%	13.5%
Cambria County	132K	22.3%	18.9%	10.4%	14.2%
Lancaster County	558K	20.4%	9.2%	8.6%	8.2%
Luzerne County	328K	20.3%	19.6%	9.5%	15.3%
Mifflin County	46K	19.6%	17.0%	10.1%	16.2%
Lebanon County	144K	19.5%	12.2%	6.5%	10.1%
Clearfield County	79K	19.3%	19.2%	7.4%	14.6%
Montour County	18K	19.3%	6.5%	8.1%	8.8%
Lawrence County	85K	18.5%	20.4%	8.0%	11.9%
Union County	42K	18.4%	11.8%	9.7%	9.0%
Mercer County	109K	18.2%	17.4%	9.6%	13.2%
Susquehanna County	38K	18.1%	12.9%	5.2%	11.4%
Berks County	433K	17.5%	13.9%	8.7%	12.2%
Elk County	31K	17.3%	14.5%	6.3%	8.7%
Fayette County	126K	16.8%	23.5%	9.0%	16.8%
Blair County	121K	16.2%	17.9%	8.6%	12.0%
Centre County	159K	16.1%	8.3%	11.1%	16.3%
Adams County	106K	15.9%	8.2%	4.5%	8.2%
Delaware County	579K	15.9%	13.3%	9.6%	10.2%
Somerset County	73K	15.9%	14.3%	6.3%	11.0%
Clarion County	37K	15.7%	15.7%	6.5%	13.1%
Lackawanna County	216K	15.3%	17.8%	9.4%	14.4%
Crawford County	83K	14.5%	18.7%	10.5%	14.3%
Bradford County	60K	14.2%	14.5%	6.9%	12.6%
Pike County	61K	12.6%	12.6%	5.3%	9.8%
Clinton County	38K	11.3%	15.9%	9.0%	14.8%
Warren County	38K	10.8%	14.6%	6.2%	10.8%
Columbia County	65K	8.4%	10.7%	7.3%	13.7%
Schuylkill County	144K	8.4%	17.2%	8.0%	12.8%
Indiana County	83K	8.2%	16.3%	7.5%	14.0%
Jefferson County	44K	7.9%	14.9%	8.3%	14.1%
Cameron County	4K	7.6%	26.0%	10.2%	13.5%
Northumberland County	91K	6.6%	15.6%	9.2%	12.6%
Perry County	46K	6.3%	10.6%	5.7%	8.0%
Snyder County	40K	6.2%	10.0%	6.8%	9.4%
Juniata County	23K	5.6%	10.4%	6.9%	9.7%
Venango County	50K	5.3%	19.4%	7.6%	13.2%
Armstrong County	65K	5.2%	15.6%	7.8%	11.8%
Carbon County	65K	5.0%	15.6%	6.4%	12.3%
Potter County	16K	4.8%	14.0%	6.1%	13.0%
McKean County	40K	2.8%	18.6%	8.7%	13.7%
Fulton County	15K	2.4%	13.9%	5.3%	11.2%
Wayne County	51K	2.0%	13.0%	6.9%	12.1%
Huntingdon County	44K	1.7%	13.4%	7.1%	10.6%
Philadelphia County	1.6M	1.1%	26.2%	27.9%	21.4%
Wyoming County	26K	0.9%	15.9%	5.2%	11.5%

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

21.4% of Pennsylvania residents, about 2.7M people, live in a low-access area.
238 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 583K low-income, low-access residents.
14.2% of households receive SNAP, and 10.2% have no vehicle.
Chester County has the state's highest low-access share at 45.1%.

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 Pennsylvania has low food access?▼

21.4% of Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania?▼

238 census tracts in Pennsylvania are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 583K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Pennsylvania?▼

Across Pennsylvania counties, an average of 14.2% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Pennsylvania has the worst food access?▼

Chester County has the highest low-access share in Pennsylvania at 45.1%, with 5.6% 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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