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

Wisconsin ranks #39 of 50 in the lower third on low-access (21.4%), same basis as the national cartogram.

What share of Wisconsin has low food access?

21.4% of Wisconsin residents live in low-access areas (population-weighted) (-0.7 pts vs U.S.), per USDA FARA 2019.

How many food deserts are in Wisconsin?

133 census tracts in Wisconsin are USDA food deserts (~284K low-income low-access residents); ~1.85 tracts per county.

What is the SNAP participation rate in Wisconsin?

Across Wisconsin, 11.1% of households receive SNAP (ACS 2024) (-1 pts vs U.S.) - mid tercile among states.

Which county in Wisconsin has the worst food access?

Richland County has the highest low-access share at 52.9% (~0.8% of statewide low-access residents), with 14.3% SNAP.

Signature · 21.4% low-access (#39 of 50)

Food access in Wisconsin

Wisconsin lands in the lower third on population-weighted low-access (21.4%), so distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band - county pages still show local pockets.

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

21.4%
low-access pop.: 133
food-desert tracts: 11.1%
on SNAP: 72
counties

USDA FARA state access plate

State WI · Wisconsin

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

LA-ELEVATED 21.4% low-access
PHOTO-FINISH -0.7 pts vs US
LILA-CLUSTER 133 food-desert tracts
SNAP-TYPICAL 11.1% SNAP
VEH-OK 6.4% no vehicle
BOOK-MID 72 counties

Nearest low-access peer: Pennsylvania (+ 0.0 pts)

Where Wisconsin sits by county inventory

Wisconsin covers 72 counties among 51 states and DC (atlas inventory, not a food-access quality ranking). Orthogonal to the low-access / SNAP charts below.

Wisconsin vs all states by county count

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

72 19th of 51 higher than 32 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

Wisconsin stays in the lower third nationally (21.4%, #39 of 50) with ~1.2M low-access residents and 133 LILA tracts.

#39
among states by low-access: 1.2M
low-access residents: 284K
food-desert residents: 6.4%
households, no vehicle

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

Wisconsin on the national low-access cartogram

Wisconsin ringed at #39 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: 21.4% low-access (#39 of 50) (-0.7 pts vs U.S. low-access).

Wisconsin lands in the lower third of states on population-weighted low-access (21.4% , #39 of 50). Distance is less binding statewide than in the upper band, yet Richland County still reaches 52.9% locally while SNAP sits at 11.1% .

States near Wisconsin's lower low-access or SNAP band

Two USDA/ACS-derived peer sets for Wisconsin. 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 (21.4% here).

Pennsylvania · 21.4% low-access
West Virginia · 21.3% low-access
Colorado · 21.5% low-access
Nebraska · 21.9% low-access

Similar SNAP participation

Nearest household SNAP rates (11.1% here), deduped against the low-access panel.

Maryland · 10.9% SNAP
Tennessee · 10.8% SNAP
Hawaii · 11.4% SNAP
Alaska · 10.7% 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
WI

21.4
PA

21.4
WV

21.3
DC

4.6

Richland

52.9
Waukesha

41.2
Forest

38.1
Rusk

37.4
Winnebago

37
Rock

35.3
Ozaukee

33.8
Taylor

33.4

All counties in Wisconsin

County	Population	Low-access	SNAP	No vehicle	Poverty
Richland County	17K	52.9%	14.3%	6.7%	14.5%
Waukesha County	412K	41.2%	4.4%	3.5%	5.2%
Forest County	9K	38.1%	15.0%	5.2%	15.2%
Rusk County	14K	37.4%	16.2%	5.4%	13.1%
Winnebago County	172K	37.0%	9.6%	5.5%	11.3%
Rock County	164K	35.3%	12.9%	6.0%	9.3%
Ozaukee County	93K	33.8%	5.0%	3.9%	5.0%
Taylor County	20K	33.4%	9.3%	5.1%	9.6%
Jackson County	21K	33.3%	15.3%	5.8%	12.4%
Walworth County	106K	33.2%	7.7%	3.9%	9.4%
Washington County	138K	33.0%	5.1%	3.7%	5.8%
Sawyer County	18K	32.7%	13.7%	4.3%	15.6%
Eau Claire County	107K	32.0%	11.1%	6.4%	11.8%
Langlade County	19K	31.1%	13.4%	6.2%	13.5%
Bayfield County	17K	30.2%	11.6%	4.2%	9.8%
Douglas County	44K	30.1%	12.5%	8.0%	10.8%
Kenosha County	168K	28.6%	12.2%	4.9%	10.5%
Ashland County	16K	28.5%	14.3%	5.8%	13.4%
Juneau County	27K	25.4%	14.9%	4.3%	13.0%
Calumet County	53K	25.3%	6.1%	3.1%	5.9%
Outagamie County	193K	25.3%	8.2%	4.1%	6.3%
Brown County	271K	25.0%	10.5%	5.1%	9.1%
Dane County	573K	24.9%	8.1%	8.2%	10.6%
Wood County	74K	24.7%	13.2%	5.5%	10.8%
Crawford County	16K	23.9%	10.9%	6.0%	13.8%
Buffalo County	13K	23.3%	10.5%	3.3%	8.4%
Marathon County	138K	23.2%	9.9%	4.8%	8.7%
Chippewa County	67K	22.0%	11.8%	4.8%	10.2%
Menominee County	4K	21.8%	26.0%	5.0%	21.7%
Manitowoc County	81K	21.5%	10.3%	5.3%	9.6%
Fond du Lac County	104K	20.8%	9.5%	5.6%	9.2%
La Crosse County	120K	20.8%	9.3%	7.0%	12.4%
Columbia County	58K	20.7%	8.9%	4.4%	7.8%
Racine County	198K	19.6%	12.3%	5.2%	10.3%
Dunn County	46K	19.2%	12.7%	3.5%	10.7%
Marinette County	42K	18.9%	12.1%	3.9%	9.8%
Clark County	35K	18.4%	10.5%	9.8%	12.1%
Monroe County	46K	18.3%	14.0%	8.3%	11.7%
Barron County	47K	17.8%	11.5%	4.8%	11.0%
Waushara County	25K	17.7%	12.4%	5.1%	10.9%
Pierce County	43K	16.8%	5.9%	2.7%	9.8%
Vernon County	31K	15.9%	9.1%	9.1%	13.1%
Washburn County	17K	15.8%	11.5%	4.3%	11.5%
Lafayette County	17K	15.3%	8.7%	5.0%	11.9%
Door County	30K	14.7%	7.8%	2.7%	7.7%
Price County	14K	14.2%	13.2%	5.3%	11.9%
Lincoln County	28K	13.1%	13.1%	4.7%	10.6%
Waupaca County	52K	13.1%	10.0%	5.9%	10.4%
Shawano County	41K	12.7%	11.0%	6.3%	11.1%
Green County	37K	12.2%	8.2%	4.3%	7.7%
Dodge County	89K	12.0%	10.7%	4.1%	8.5%
Grant County	52K	12.0%	10.6%	4.9%	13.0%
Portage County	71K	12.0%	8.0%	3.9%	10.1%
Florence County	5K	11.9%	13.3%	2.1%	7.3%
St. Croix County	96K	11.7%	6.2%	3.3%	6.6%
Sheboygan County	118K	10.9%	8.8%	5.2%	8.5%
Trempealeau County	31K	10.8%	9.1%	4.7%	9.9%
Iron County	6K	10.1%	12.1%	4.2%	10.5%
Oneida County	38K	10.1%	7.9%	4.3%	8.5%
Vilas County	24K	10.1%	9.9%	3.8%	11.1%
Adams County	21K	9.9%	14.6%	4.2%	14.1%
Burnett County	17K	9.8%	12.5%	4.4%	12.8%
Sauk County	66K	9.7%	10.1%	5.1%	8.1%
Jefferson County	86K	9.6%	9.2%	4.6%	8.1%
Iowa County	24K	8.6%	9.5%	4.3%	7.6%
Milwaukee County	926K	8.6%	20.5%	12.5%	17.2%
Green Lake County	19K	8.3%	11.7%	7.8%	13.8%
Oconto County	40K	6.6%	9.0%	3.4%	8.2%
Polk County	46K	5.8%	9.7%	3.7%	8.2%
Marquette County	16K	1.7%	11.9%	4.6%	13.1%
Kewaunee County	21K	0.4%	5.2%	2.8%	7.6%
Pepin County	7K	0.0%	9.9%	3.6%	10.2%

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 Wisconsin 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.