PlainFoodAccess

National data study · USDA + Census

U.S. Food Access Statistics

How many Americans live far from a supermarket, where food deserts concentrate, and how access varies by state, compiled from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and the Census ACS (2024) across all 3,144 U.S. counties.

22.1%
live in a low-access area
18.7M
live in a food desert
9,228
food-desert tracts
12.1%
on SNAP

The national picture

22.1% of Americans live more than a mile (urban) or ten miles (rural) from a supermarket, and about 18.7M live in a USDA-designated food desert.

67.6M
people low-access
18.7M
in food deserts
9,228
food-desert tracts
12.1%
households on SNAP

Key findings

  • About 22.1% of the U.S. population, roughly 67.6M people, live in a low-access area, more than 1 mile from a supermarket in a city or 10 miles in a rural area.
  • Around 18.7M people live in a USDA-designated food desert: a census tract that is both low-income and low-access.
  • 9,228 of roughly 71,700 U.S. census tracts (12.9%) meet the food-desert threshold.
  • Food access varies enormously by state: from 4.6% low-access in District of Columbia to 31.7% in New Mexico, a roughly 6.9x gap.
  • Nationally, about 12.1% of households receive SNAP, the federal food-assistance benefit that offsets grocery costs for low-income families.

According to the USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019) and the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024), figures are computed live from the PlainFoodAccess database. See the methodology.

How U.S. census tracts break down

Food access tier distribution for all U.S. census tracts USDA-defined food-access tiers: 44539 census tracts adequate (within distance threshold), 17933 limited, 9228 severe (low-income low-access food desert). Total 71700 tracts evaluated. 44,539 tracts adequate (62.1%) 17,933 tracts limited (25.0%) 9,228 tracts severe / food desert (12.9%) Adequate 62% Limited 25% Severe 13% Food-access tier distribution: all U.S. census tracts
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas 2019

Low food access varies enormously by state

Each state colored by its population-weighted low-access share, sparse rural states run high, dense states low. Click any state for its county breakdown.

AK 31 ME 13 VT 11 NH 28 WA 23 ID 26 MT 22 ND 29 MN 27 IL 20 WI 21 MI 23 NY 12 RI 24 MA 28 OR 17 NV 23 WY 30 SD 29 IA 20 IN 29 OH 25 PA 21 NJ 24 CT - CA 13 UT 24 CO 22 NE 22 MO 25 KY 20 WV 21 VA 20 MD 23 DE 27 AZ 27 NM 32 KS 26 AR 25 TN 27 NC 23 SC 29 DC 5 OK 25 LA 26 MS 26 AL 25 GA 31 HI 27 TX 25 FL 25

USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas (2019), population-weighted · Census ACS 2024 context

Food access is a distance problem, not only a poverty problem

You might expect the states with the worst food access to be the poorest. They are not. Several sparsely populated states sit high on low access despite below-average poverty, because residents simply live far from the nearest supermarket. Each point is a state: poverty rate across the bottom, low-access share up the side.

State poverty rate vs low-access share

Each point is a U.S. state. Source: USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019), low-access population-weighted; Census ACS (2024) poverty. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 30 entities by Poverty rate (%) (X) and Low-access share (%) (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. Compounded needRural distance (low poverty, high low-access)Poor but near storesWell served 5%10%15%20%25% 0%10%20%30%40% Poverty rate (%) Low-access share (%)
Each point is a U.S. state. Source: USDA Food Access Research Atlas (2019), low-access population-weighted; Census ACS (2024) poverty.

The counties with the least food access

Share of residents living in a low-access area, ranked

% low-access

What this shows The hardest-served counties are overwhelmingly sparse and rural, where the nearest supermarket can be a long drive from most homes.

Source USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas (2019) As of 2019 edition

About this data

USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas (2019): census-tract low-access and food-desert classifications, aggregated to the county level. ers.usda.gov

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2024 5-Year Estimates: population, SNAP participation, and vehicle access. National and state shares are population-weighted. Read the full methodology →

The full county-level dataset is available as a downloadable CSV.

Data current as of (most recent source-data vintage; figures reflect the 2019 USDA Atlas and 2024 Census ACS).

Key takeaways

  • Roughly 1 in 5 Americans lives in a low-access area; the burden falls hardest on sparse rural counties.
  • Food deserts add a low-income condition on top of low access, about 18.7M people live in one. Worst food deserts
  • State-level differences are driven mainly by population density and the distance to the nearest supermarket. Browse states

USDA low-access figures reflect the 2019 Food Access Research Atlas; socioeconomic context is the latest Census ACS 5-year (2024).