State food-access profile · 39 counties

Food access in Washington

How far Washington 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

23.1%
low-access pop.: 174
food-desert tracts: 11.6%
on SNAP: 39
counties

The statewide picture

About 1.6M Washington residents - 23.1% - live in a low-access area, and 174 census tracts across the state are USDA-designated food deserts.

1.6M
low-access residents: 341K
food-desert residents: 6.9%
households, no vehicle: 9.9%
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 Washington stands nationally

Every state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, Washington 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 Washington 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 39 counties and 7.8M residents, Washington's population-weighted low-access share is 23.1%.

A tract becomes a food desert only when its low-access residents are also low-income. That applies to 174 tracts in Washington, home to roughly 341K low-income, low-access residents. SNAP participation across the state averages 11.6% of households, and 6.9% 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

23.1%

Low-access (pop-weighted)

1.6M

Low-access residents

11.6%

Avg. SNAP

Douglas

55.5
Columbia

49.1
Ferry

48.6
Adams

41.7
Kitsap

40.7
Lincoln

39.4
Clallam

38.2
Stevens

36

All counties in Washington

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Douglas County	44K	55.5%	14.3%	4.3%	8.3%
Columbia County	4K	49.1%	14.1%	6.3%	9.3%
Ferry County	7K	48.6%	19.5%	4.1%	13.6%
Adams County	21K	41.7%	18.9%	6.4%	19.5%
Kitsap County	278K	40.7%	10.0%	4.3%	8.2%
Lincoln County	11K	39.4%	14.7%	3.8%	12.5%
Clallam County	78K	38.2%	13.0%	5.6%	10.6%
Stevens County	48K	36.0%	15.0%	4.1%	12.0%
Pierce County	930K	33.7%	12.3%	5.4%	8.8%
Thurston County	299K	33.4%	11.2%	4.7%	9.5%
Franklin County	99K	31.6%	18.8%	4.2%	13.1%
Whitman County	47K	28.5%	10.9%	7.3%	22.7%
Skagit County	131K	28.4%	12.4%	3.9%	11.6%
Whatcom County	231K	27.7%	11.7%	6.4%	12.9%
Grant County	102K	25.8%	16.5%	5.1%	15.8%
Pend Oreille County	14K	25.8%	16.7%	3.8%	14.4%
Cowlitz County	112K	25.3%	17.7%	6.2%	12.2%
Walla Walla County	62K	23.7%	13.5%	6.2%	12.1%
Kittitas County	47K	23.5%	12.3%	4.4%	14.4%
Snohomish County	844K	23.5%	8.8%	4.7%	8.0%
Benton County	213K	22.8%	14.8%	5.9%	11.0%
Clark County	517K	21.7%	12.1%	4.7%	8.0%
Jefferson County	34K	19.2%	8.1%	4.6%	11.1%
Chelan County	80K	18.1%	12.0%	5.8%	8.3%
Grays Harbor County	77K	16.7%	18.2%	5.4%	15.3%
King County	2.3M	16.7%	8.2%	11.2%	8.6%
Spokane County	549K	16.7%	15.8%	6.8%	11.7%
Lewis County	85K	16.2%	16.4%	4.6%	12.2%
Wahkiakum County	5K	15.2%	6.9%	4.0%	17.8%
Yakima County	257K	14.9%	22.6%	5.2%	15.5%
Asotin County	22K	13.8%	18.6%	3.2%	14.2%
Okanogan County	43K	13.6%	19.3%	4.2%	20.7%
Mason County	68K	13.2%	15.2%	3.9%	12.3%
Garfield County	2K	12.4%	13.6%	N/A	12.0%
Klickitat County	23K	11.8%	12.0%	5.2%	12.9%
Pacific County	24K	11.5%	15.1%	5.5%	10.4%
Island County	87K	11.4%	7.7%	3.8%	7.7%
Skamania County	12K	4.2%	12.3%	3.3%	8.1%
San Juan County	18K	0.0%	5.7%	3.6%	11.3%

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

23.1% of Washington residents, about 1.6M people, live in a low-access area.
174 census tracts are USDA food deserts, home to roughly 341K low-income, low-access residents.
11.6% of households receive SNAP, and 6.9% have no vehicle.
Douglas County has the state's highest low-access share at 55.5%.

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 Washington has low food access?▼

23.1% of Washington 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 Washington?▼

174 census tracts in Washington are USDA-designated food deserts, both low-access and low-income, home to roughly 341K low-income residents.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Washington?▼

Across Washington counties, an average of 11.6% of households receive SNAP (Census ACS 2024), though rates vary between urban and rural areas.

Which county in Washington has the worst food access?▼

Douglas County has the highest low-access share in Washington at 55.5%, with 14.3% 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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