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

According to USDA FARA (2019), Washington ranks #31 of 50 by population-weighted low-access share.

What share of Washington has low food access?

23.1% of Washington residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (+1 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Washington?

174 census tracts in Washington are USDA food deserts (~341K low-income low-access residents); ~4.46 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Washington?

Across Washington, 11.6% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-0.5 pts vs U.S.) - mid tercile among states.

Which county in Washington has the worst food access?

Douglas County has the highest low-access share at 55.5% (~1.4% of statewide low-access residents), with 14.3% SNAP.

Signature · 174 LILA tracts (4.46/county)

Food access in Washington

How far Washington residents live from a supermarket (23.1% low-access), where LILA tracts sit, and SNAP/vehicle context from USDA FARA 2019 + Census ACS 2024.

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

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

USDA FARA state access plate

State WA · Washington

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

LA-ELEVATED 23.1% low-access
ABOVE-NATIONAL +1.0 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 174 food-desert tracts
SNAP-TYPICAL 11.6% SNAP
VEH-OK 6.9% no vehicle
BOOK-LIGHT 39 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Michigan (+ 0.1 pts)

Where Washington sits by county inventory

Washington covers 39 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Washington vs all states by county count

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

39 33rd of 51 higher than 18 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

Mid-band statewide picture

About 1.6M Washington residents (23.1%) live low-access - #31 of 50, with 174 USDA food-desert tracts.

#31
among states by low-access: 1.6M
low-access residents: 341K
food-desert residents: 6.9%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares. Low access = >1 mile urban / >10 miles rural from a supermarket.

Where Washington sits on low-access

Washington ringed at #31 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: 174 LILA tracts (4.46/county) .

Washington is in the middle third nationally on low-access (23.1% , #31 of 50). SNAP averages 11.6% of households and 6.9% have no vehicle , with 174 LILA tracts. County pressure peaks in Douglas County at 55.5%.

Nationwide peers for Washington's low-access or SNAP share

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Washington. Neighbourhood chart below is local poles; these panels are full-corpus nearest neighbours excluding this state.

Similar low-access share

Nearest population-weighted low-access rates (23.1% here).

Michigan · 23.2% low-access
Nevada · 23.0% low-access
North Carolina · 22.9% low-access
Maryland · 22.7% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (11.6% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Texas · 11.6% SNAP
Hawaii · 11.4% SNAP
Connecticut · 11.8% SNAP
Maine · 12.0% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
MI

23.2
WA

23.1
NV

23
NC

22.9
MD

22.7
DC

4.6

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.

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 Washington 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.