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

West Virginia ranks #40 of 50 in the lower third on low-access (21.3%), same basis as the national cartogram.

What share of West Virginia has low food access?

21.3% of West Virginia residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (-0.8 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in West Virginia?

66 census tracts in West Virginia are USDA food deserts (~139K low-income low-access residents); ~1.2 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in West Virginia?

Across West Virginia, 17.3% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (+5.2 pts vs U.S.) - high tercile among states.

Which county in West Virginia has the worst food access?

Gilmer County has the highest low-access share at 81.6% (~1.8% of statewide low-access residents), with 21.6% SNAP.

Signature · 17.3% SNAP (98th pct among states)

Food access in West Virginia

West Virginia stands out on SNAP (17.3%, +5.2 pts vs U.S.) alongside 21.3% population-weighted low-access across 55 counties.

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

21.3%
low-access pop.: 66
food-desert tracts: 17.3%
on SNAP: 55
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State WV · West Virginia

LA-ELEVATED · PHOTO-FINISH · LILA-CLUSTER · SNAP-HEAVY · VEH-TYPICAL · BOOK-MID

LA-ELEVATED 21.3% low-access
PHOTO-FINISH -0.8 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 66 food-desert tracts
SNAP-HEAVY 17.3% SNAP
VEH-TYPICAL 8.0% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 55 counties

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

Where West Virginia sits by county inventory

West Virginia covers 55 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

West Virginia vs all states by county count

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

55 29th of 51 higher than 22 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

Lower-band statewide picture

West Virginia stays in the lower third nationally (21.3%, #40 of 50) with ~394K low-access residents and 66 LILA tracts.

#40
among states by low-access: 394K
low-access residents: 139K
food-desert residents: 8.0%
households, no vehicle

Population-weighted tract shares. Lower-band statewide means still leave county outliers on the table below.

West Virginia among lower low-access states

West Virginia ringed at #40 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: 17.3% SNAP (98th pct among states) (+5.2 pts vs U.S. SNAP) .

West Virginia lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (21.3% , #40 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Gilmer County still reaches 81.6% locally while SNAP sits at 17.3% .

States near West Virginia's lower low-access or SNAP band

SNAP-led peer set first for West Virginia (17.3%), with low-access neighbours deduped against it.

Similar low-access share

Nearest population-weighted low-access rates (21.3% here).

Pennsylvania · 21.4% low-access
Wisconsin · 21.4% low-access
Colorado · 21.5% low-access
Nebraska · 21.9% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (17.3% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Louisiana · 17.3% SNAP
Oregon · 16.0% SNAP
New York · 15.5% SNAP
New Mexico · 19.6% SNAP

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

NM

31.7
NE

21.9
CO

21.5
PA

21.4
WI

21.4
WV

21.3
DC

4.6

Gilmer

81.6
Hancock

50.2
Pendleton

48.3
Pocahontas

47.7
Wetzel

39.8
Monroe

39.7
Berkeley

38.8
Raleigh

38.6

All counties in West Virginia

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Gilmer County	7K	81.6%	21.6%	9.5%	19.0%
Hancock County	28K	50.2%	15.1%	7.4%	14.5%
Pendleton County	6K	48.3%	13.5%	3.5%	16.6%
Pocahontas County	8K	47.7%	21.7%	6.5%	22.5%
Wetzel County	14K	39.8%	19.9%	7.7%	16.0%
Monroe County	12K	39.7%	12.0%	6.3%	14.0%
Berkeley County	130K	38.8%	11.6%	5.1%	11.1%
Raleigh County	73K	38.6%	19.3%	8.9%	22.8%
Mercer County	59K	30.1%	21.6%	6.5%	16.5%
Wood County	83K	29.8%	17.6%	7.3%	14.7%
Jefferson County	59K	28.5%	10.9%	5.9%	8.7%
Wayne County	38K	28.4%	18.3%	9.0%	14.6%
Hampshire County	23K	28.1%	14.7%	6.6%	13.1%
Kanawha County	177K	27.7%	15.8%	9.5%	15.7%
Preston County	34K	24.9%	17.2%	5.7%	13.8%
Calhoun County	6K	24.2%	25.5%	11.9%	32.9%
Roane County	14K	23.5%	21.8%	10.5%	19.1%
Summers County	12K	22.2%	23.0%	9.1%	23.8%
Greenbrier County	32K	21.2%	18.2%	5.9%	21.8%
Monongalia County	107K	21.1%	9.3%	7.6%	19.7%
Ohio County	42K	21.1%	18.5%	12.0%	17.7%
Clay County	8K	18.4%	32.6%	10.3%	26.4%
Braxton County	12K	18.3%	22.0%	10.7%	20.4%
Putnam County	57K	18.1%	12.9%	5.0%	10.6%
Mason County	25K	18.0%	18.4%	6.1%	19.4%
Jackson County	28K	17.7%	19.2%	11.2%	18.5%
Marion County	56K	17.2%	15.5%	7.6%	13.6%
Brooke County	22K	16.9%	14.1%	7.6%	13.1%
Hardy County	14K	15.8%	19.2%	8.5%	17.7%
Grant County	11K	15.3%	16.6%	8.9%	13.3%
Mineral County	27K	15.1%	17.0%	8.7%	14.0%
Harrison County	65K	12.5%	16.0%	9.5%	14.4%
Fayette County	40K	12.1%	19.6%	8.1%	19.2%
Marshall County	30K	11.5%	21.2%	7.9%	16.8%
Barbour County	15K	11.4%	19.5%	6.5%	20.0%
Ritchie County	8K	10.7%	15.9%	6.8%	21.6%
Morgan County	17K	10.1%	14.0%	5.1%	11.2%
Mingo County	23K	9.9%	36.5%	12.8%	32.4%
Lewis County	17K	9.4%	21.3%	10.2%	16.1%
Randolph County	28K	8.7%	16.6%	7.7%	15.9%
Nicholas County	24K	8.4%	19.3%	6.8%	15.4%
Cabell County	93K	8.3%	16.7%	10.4%	19.2%
Upshur County	24K	8.0%	19.0%	8.2%	19.2%
Logan County	31K	6.8%	27.9%	9.6%	21.8%
Boone County	21K	6.6%	22.0%	7.4%	16.2%
Webster County	8K	5.0%	32.6%	13.0%	23.3%
Doddridge County	8K	4.2%	10.3%	2.8%	14.8%
McDowell County	18K	3.3%	36.5%	10.7%	34.2%
Lincoln County	20K	3.0%	24.0%	10.3%	23.2%
Tucker County	7K	2.9%	12.8%	12.1%	15.3%
Wirt County	5K	1.5%	18.3%	7.9%	16.8%
Tyler County	8K	1.3%	19.5%	5.7%	20.2%
Pleasants County	8K	0.0%	16.3%	2.6%	11.6%
Taylor County	16K	0.0%	20.2%	9.0%	13.9%
Wyoming County	21K	0.0%	24.1%	6.8%	22.6%

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 West Virginia 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.