Lowest food deserts by state

How to read this ranking

District of Columbia has the lowest published food deserts in this comparison, at 0.8%. The next states shown are Rhode Island (1.3%) and New York (2.2%).

The table orders 51 states by share living in a low-income, low-access tract. It describes one published measure, not an overall judgment about where to live.

Use the result as a starting point, then compare the underlying source, dates, and local county figures before making a decision. Residents of tracts that are both low income and far from a food store — USDA’s definition of a food desert, which requires both conditions rather than distance alone. A wealthy county can be far from shops without qualifying, because a car makes distance manageable; the measure is about distance that people cannot easily overcome. Measured on 2020 tracts, so a neighbourhood that gained or lost a store since then is not reflected.