Low-Income and Low-Foodstore-Access Census Tracts, 2015–19

Limited access to foodstores or other sources of healthy and affordable food may impede the ability of some people living in the United States to eat a healthy diet. Income, vehicle access, and distance to the nearest foodstore may be barriers to food access for some. This report updates estimates of low-income and low-foodstore-access census tracts—as found in USDA, Economic Research Service’s Food Access Research Atlas—using a 2019 directory of foodstores and 2014–18 American Community Survey data on household vehicle access and family income. The number of census tracts classified as low income (LI), based on the poverty rate and median income, decreased by 2 percent from 2015 to 2019. The number of census tracts classified as low access (LA) decreased for two out of three measures solely based on distance. For the fourth measure accounting for vehicle access, the number of LA census tracts shrank by 6.4 percent from 2015 to 2019. This decrease largely reflects higher levels of vehicle access across all U.S. housing units relative to 2015. Overlapping LI and LA tracts resulted in decreases in the number of low-income, low-access (LILA) tracts for two measures and increases in two measures. Overall, 33.2 percent of low-income individuals—those who have annual family income at or below 200 percent of the Federal poverty threshold for family size—lived more than 1 mile from the nearest supercenter, supermarket, or large grocery store. Furthermore, 33.6 percent of households participating in the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) lived more than 1 mile from a food-store in 2019 compared with 34.2 percent in 2015.