US Food Access Score by County

Top 10 counties by GFAS (best food access)

Counties with most limited food access

Highest food access counties

Frequently asked questions

What is the Gera Food Access Score (GFAS)?

The GFAS is a Gera-computed composite index (0–100) ranking each US county on food access. It combines two USDA signals: the share of residents beyond 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from a supermarket (weight 60%), and the share of residents who are both low-income AND beyond that distance (weight 40%). Each component is derived from USDA Food Access Research Atlas 2019 data, aggregated across 72,531 census tracts. Higher GFAS = better food access. Full methodology at https://geramarket.com/methodology/gera-food-access-score.

What percentage of Americans live in food deserts?

Using the USDA's 1-mile (urban) / 10-mile (rural) threshold, 22.2% of the US population — aggregated across 3140 counties and 72,531 census tracts — lives beyond the nearest supermarket, per the USDA Food Access Research Atlas 2019. The USDA defines a "food desert" (formally: Low-Income Low-Access tract) as a census tract that is both low-income AND low-access.

Which US counties have the worst food access?

The five US counties with the lowest Gera Food Access Score (most food-insecure) in the USDA 2019 atlas are: Mora County, New Mexico (GFAS 0/100, low-access 100.0%); Costilla County, Colorado (GFAS 0.9/100, low-access 100.0%); Hudspeth County, Texas (GFAS 1.1/100, low-access 99.6%); Cottle County, Texas (GFAS 1.5/100, low-access 99.9%); Wheeler County, Oregon (GFAS 4.2/100, low-access 100.0%). These are predominantly rural counties where nearly all residents live beyond 10 miles of the nearest supermarket.

Which US counties have the best food access?

The five US counties with the highest Gera Food Access Score (best food access) are: DeKalb County, Alabama (GFAS 100/100); Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska (GFAS 100/100); Gilpin County, Colorado (GFAS 100/100); Dade County, Georgia (GFAS 100/100); Evans County, Georgia (GFAS 100/100). These counties have near-zero populations living beyond 1 mile of a supermarket.

Is the USDA Food Access Research Atlas data free to use?

Yes. The USDA Food Access Research Atlas is a US Government Work and is in the public domain. It can be freely used, reproduced, and distributed with no registration or API key required. The bulk CSV download is available at https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/download-the-data/.

What does LILA (Low-Income, Low-Access) mean?

A LILA tract is a census tract that is both low-income (poverty rate ≥ 20% or median family income ≤ 80% of the state or metro median) AND low-access (a significant share of residents are beyond 1 mile for urban / 10 miles for rural from the nearest supermarket). The GFAS low-income overlay uses LALOWI1_10 — the count of low-income residents beyond those distances — to weight counties where food access barriers compound economic hardship.