United States Department of Agriculture

A report summary from the Economic Research Service

ERS is a primary source 

of economic research and 

analysis from the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 

providing timely information on economic and policy 

issues related to agriculture, 

food, the environment, and 

rural America.

www.ers.usda.gov

Economic

Research

Service

Economic 

Information

Bulletin

Number 165

January 2017

United States Department of Agriculture

Low-Income and 

Low-Supermarket-Access 

Census Tracts, 2010-2015

Alana Rhone, Michele Ver Ploeg, Chris Dicken, 

Ryan Williams, and Vince Breneman

January 2017

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www.ers.usda.gov/

publications

What Is the Issue?

Limited access to supermarkets, supercenters, grocery stores, or other sources of healthy and 

affordable food may impede the ability of some Americans to achieve a healthy diet. The Food 

Access Research Atlas (FARA) is a Web-based mapping tool that allows users to investigate 

access to food stores at the census-tract level. The FARA is utilized by Federal, State, and local 

governments, community planners, public health officials, and researchers to understand food 

store access in communities—as well as the consequences for food shopping, diet, and dietary 

health—and to target interventions to improve access. Previous estimates of low-income (LI) 

and low-access (LA) census tracts use data that are now more than 5 years old and do not 

reflect recent changes in the locations of stores nor broad changes in economic conditions. This 

report updates estimates of food store access using more recent data. 

What Did the Study Find?

Low-income (LI) and low-access (LA) status of census tracts are measured separately, with 

the overlap of tracts that are both LI and LA comprising LILA tracts. Our findings first discuss 

these two components separately, and then jointly. 

LI status is determined by poverty rates (at least 20 percent) or median family income (at or 

below 80 percent of the metropolitan area or State median income) in each census tract. 

• The number of census tracts classified as LI increased from 29,285 in 2010 to 30,870 in 

2015, or 5.41 percent

LA status of a tract is measured four ways. Three of these measures are based solely on proximity to the nearest store, demarcated by the use of different distance thresholds (0.5 and 1 mile 

in urban areas; 10 and 20 miles in rural areas). The fourth measure is based on the number of 

households without a vehicle that are more than 0.5 mile from the nearest store and the number 

and share of people more than 20 miles from the nearest store. 

• The number of tracts that are classified as low access (LA) based solely on proximity 

decreased across all three measures from 2010 to 2015. These estimates show improvements 

in the proximity of supermarkets for the total population (regardless of income). 

Alana Rhone, Michele Ver Ploeg, Chris Dicken, 

Ryan Williams and Vince Breneman

Low-Income and 

Low-Supermarket-Access 

Census Tracts, 2010-2015

Summary
• In contrast, the fourth measure of low-access tracts increased between 2010 and 2015. This increase reflects 

an increase in the number of households without vehicles that are more than 0.5 mile from the nearest store. 

Even if the LA status of tracts did not change between 2010 and 2015, there would have been an increase in the 

number of LILA tracts because more tracts were low-income tracts due to the Great Recession’s effects.

Combining LI and LA tracts results in increases in the number of LILA tracts across all four measures. 

• Using the 1- and 10-mile definition, there was a net increase of 286 LILA tracts in 2015 (out of a total of 

72,531 populated census tracts).

• Using the 0.5- and 10-mile definition, there was a net increase of 742 LILA tracts in 2015.

• Using the 1- and 20-mile definition, there was a net increase of 349 LILA tracts in 2015.

• Using the LILA Vehicle Access and 20-mile definition, there was a net increase of 412 new LILA tracts in 2015.

How Was the Study Conducted? 

Updated estimates of LILA census tracts use a list of supermarkets, supercenters, and large grocery stores 

from 2015. This list is generated from two independent directories of stores—TDLinx (a proprietary source) 

and from stores authorized to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Data on 

income and vehicle access are from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey. Population data are from the 

2010 Decennial Census. Methods for estimating supermarket access for the U.S. population and aggregating 

these estimates to census tracts are similar to those used in Ver Ploeg et al. (2012) and as published in the Food 

Access Research Atlas (ERS, 2013). Because census tract boundaries in this report are similar to those used 

in the previous version of the FARA, the new 2015 estimates can be compared to 2010 estimates to understand 

which tracts changed low-income or low-access status or both between years. The FARA mapping tool has also 

been updated with the estimates of access used in this report and with contextual data on access for population 

subgroups by age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, income, and SNAP participation status. 

www.ers.usda.gov

Number of low-income and low-access (LILA) census tracts, 2010 and 2015

Source: Calculated by USDA, Economic Research Service using 2010 Decennial Census data and

the 2010-2014 American Community Survey data.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

LILA 1 and 10 miles LILA 0.5 and 10 miles LILA 1 and 20 miles LILA vehicle access &

20 miles

2010 2015