The Food Access Research Atlas presents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility, provides food access data for populations within census tracts, and offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes.

2015 USDA Food Desert areas for Florida defined by 2010 US Census tract. Based on LILATract_1And10 field census data. Developed by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) as part of the Food Access Research Atlas.This service is intended for use with popups or at very large scales.This data layer is part of Florida’s Roadmap to Living Healthy web map produced by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (DFNW).For technical assistance, contact the Florida's Roadmap to Healthy Living Administrator

2014 USDA Food Desert areas for Florida defined by 2010 US Census tract. Based on LILATract_1And10 field census data. Developed by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) as part of the Food Access Research Atlas.This service is intended for use with popups or at very large scales.

This data layer is part of Florida’s Roadmap to Living Healthy web map produced by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (DFNW).For technical assistance, contact the Florida's Roadmap to Healthy Living Administrator

Dataset is an overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility. This dataset provides food access data for populations within census tracts; and offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be used for community planning or research purposes.Data from USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) Food Access Research Atlas, 2019. Last updated 4/27/2021.See also USDA map service at https://gisportal.ers.usda.gov/server/rest/services/FARA/FARA_2019/MapServer.

Data pulled from the USDA Food Research Atlas for 2019 Census Tracts designated as food deserts

The Food Access Research Atlas (FARA), developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA ERS), is a spatial dataset and mapping tool designed to analyze food access disparities. It provides census tract-level data on low-income and low-access areas, using metrics like proximity to supermarkets and vehicle availability. The dataset identifies regions where populations face barriers to affordable, healthy food, often termed "food deserts." FARA supports research, policy development, and community planning by offering customizable maps and downloadable data for U.S. census tracts. Key features include comparisons of food access between 2015 and 2019, alternative definitions of low-income thresholds, and geospatial APIs for integration into GIS systems. Unique aspects include contextual data on demographic factors (e.g., income, population density) and accessibility metrics, enabling nuanced analysis of food insecurity drivers. The tool also distinguishes between urban, suburban, and rural access challenges. Created to expand on earlier "Food Desert Locator" efforts, FARA aims to inform interventions addressing food system inequities. Its open-access data and user-friendly interface cater to researchers, policymakers, and local organizations seeking evidence-based solutions.

United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service’s Food Access Research Atlas maps census tracts that are considered to be both low income and low access. The Atlas provides different ways to understand characteristics that can contribute to food deserts, including income level, distance to supermarkets, and vehicle access. The low access and distance measure extracted from the Food Access Research Atlas, and displayed on the Maryland Food System Map, is low income and low access measured at ½ mile and 10 miles. The Food Access Research Atlas defines this measure as being a low-income census tract with at least 500 people or 33 percent of the population living more than ½ mile (urban areas) or more than 10 miles (rural areas) from the nearest supermarket. A low-income census tract is defined as a having either a poverty rate of 42 percent or more, or a median family income less than 80 percent of the State-wide median family income; or a tract in a metropolitan area with a median family income less than 80 percent of the surrounding metropolitan area medium family income. A census tract is urban if its geographic centroid is in an area with more than 2,500 people. All other tracts are rural.

Data source: United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Date: 2013

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT or Department) has identified processed, authoritative datasets to support the preliminary spatial analysis of equity considerations. This dataset from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), an authoritative source for Florida food desert data, is readily available for use in food accessibility analysis. This processed dataset is available at the United States Census Bureau tract-level; however, additional raw datasets from other sources can be used to identify equity considerations. Most of this raw data is available at the Census block group, parcel, or point-level—but additional processing is required to make suitable for spatial analysis. For more information, contact Dana Reiding with the FDOT Forecasting and Trends Office (FTO). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Deserts layer contains 2014 USDA Food Desert areas for Florida defined by 2010 Census tracts. This data layer is part of the Florida’s Roadmap to Living Healthy web map produced by the FDACS, Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (DFNW). The layer is owned and managed by the Administrator of Florida's Roadmap to Healthy Living. Data Link: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e325f8d682c245f8a34003ffb45b0438 Available Geography Levels: Tract Owner/Managed By: FDACS FDOT Point of Contact: Dana Reiding, ManagerForecasting and Trends OfficeFlorida Department of TransportationDana.Reiding@dot.state.fl.us605 Suwannee Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399850-414-4719

Presents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility. Created by the USDA. Data as of 2011-2015 5 yr period averages. Metadata and current information available at: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, a division of the US Department of the Treasury, administers the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC). PolicyMap has performed calculations on various data sources in order to map eligibility and threshold requirements established by the CDFI Fund for Part II (Community Impact) of the NMTC Allocation Application. The NMTC Allocation Application data on PolicyMap is available as follows.

Note that the latest eligibility criteria use Census American Community Survey (ACS) 2016-2020 estimates.

CDFI Fund New Markets Tax Credit NMTC Eligibility NMTC Eligible Census tracts include those that have either (1) Median Family Income at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) in the period of 2016-2020 or (2) Poverty Rate of 20% or greater in the period of 2016-2020. PolicyMap provides a map of those eligible Census tracts (“Eligible Tracts”), as well as the underlying data used to create that map in the (“Eligibility Criteria”). PolicyMap also provides the underlying data without the NMTC thresholds (“Tract Family Income as % of AMI” and “Poverty”).

According to the NMTC application, an applicant generally scores more favorably that serves tracts with “Severe Distress”, “Deep Distress”, “High Migration Rural County”, or in non-metropolitan counties, or qualifies for two or more other criteria.

Severe Distress, Deep Distress, High Migration Rural County, and Non-Metropolitan Meeting the NMTC Severe Distress, Deep Distress, High Migration Rural County, or Non-Metropolitan criteria is based on whether or not a given Census tract meets basic NMTC Eligibility, plus one of the following factors: Severe Distress: having a median family income at or below 60% of AMI in the period of 2016-2020; having a poverty rate at or above 30% in the period of 2016-2020; having an unemployment rate of at least 1.5 times the national unemployment rate in the period of 2016-2020; Deep Distress: having a median family income at or below 40% of AMI in the period of 2016-2020; having a poverty rate at or above 40% in the period of 2016-2020; having an unemployment rate of at least 2.5 times the national unemployment rate in the period of 2016-2020; High Migration Rural County: having median family income at or below 85 percent of the applicable AMI in the period of 2016-2020; being in any county during the 20-year period ending with the year in which the most recent census was conducted, with a net out-migration of inhabitants from the county of at least 10 percent of the population of the county at the beginning of such period; high migration rural counties qualify as low-income communities; Non-Metropolitan: being in a county that is not part of a metropolitan statistical area. *The median family income threshold for NMTC, more specifically, is: Census tracts with, if located within a non-Metropolitan Area, median family income at or below 60% of statewide median family income or, if located within a Metropolitan Area, median family income at or below 60% of the greater of the statewide median family income or the Metropolitan Area median family income.

Other Criteria for NMTC: Other criteria can include two of the following: meeting NMTC Heavy Distress requirements; being located within: an SBA Designated HUB Zone, a Medically Underserved Area (MUA), a Census tract within which a Brownfield is located, a HOPE VI Redevelopment Area, a Federal Native Area, an Appalachian Regional Commission or Delta Regional Authority Area, a Colonias Area, a State or Local Economic Zone (such as TIF or KOZ), a FEMA Disaster Area, or a ERS/USDA Food Desert. Please note that the data on PolicyMap do not take into account the following, due to unavailability of data: HOPE VI Redevelopment Areas, Federal Native Areas, Colonias Areas, State or Local Economic Zones, and FEMA Disaster Areas. Included in this submenu are the data for each of the available factors that constitute the Secondary Criteria for NMTC Severely Distressed.

The data used for the NMTC Eligibility maps include numerous sources, listed below.

Data for the 2018 Application: Median Family Income: Census ACS 2016-2020

Area Median Income: Census ACS 2016-2020

Poverty Rate: Census ACS 2016-2020 Unemployment Rate: Census ACS 2016-2020 SBA HUBZones: Small Business Administration HUBZones Medically Underserved Areas: US Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Shortage Areas Delta Regional Authority Distressed Counties: Delta Regional Authority Distressed List (https://dra.gov/map-room/) Appalachian Regional Commission: County Economic Status and Distressed Areas in Appalachia (http://www.arc.gov/appalachian_region/CountyEconomicStatusandDistressedAreasinAppalachia.asp) Brownfield locations: EPA Brownfields ERS/USDA Food Deserts: ERS, USDA Because any of these data sources may have been updated since the production of these calculations, users should verify eligibility directly with the CDFI Fund. Information in PolicyMap does not include HOPE VI Redevelopment Areas, Federal Native Areas, Colonias Areas, or State or Local Economic Zones. FEMA Disaster Areas are accessible under Federal Guidelines. NMTC Eligibility and Qualified Opportunity Zones A joint dataset that includes both NMTC eligibility and designated Qualified Opportunity Zones. Census tracts labeled as “Designated OZ” are census tracts that have been nominated and designated as a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ), according to the CDFI Fund and census tracts labeled as “NMTC Eligible” are census tracts that meet the CDFI Fund’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) eligibility for CY 2018. For more information see the directory entry for Qualified Opportunity Zones.

US Inequality Atlas

A county-by-county map of inequality across the United States, covering 10 dimensions of disadvantage for all 3,222 FIPS counties. I merged data from the Census Bureau, USDA, CMS, and BLS into a single master dataset with a composite inequality index that ranks every county on a 0-1 scale.

The core file (merged/inequality_master.csv) gives you one row per county with scores for economics, education, healthcare access, housing affordability, food access, and disability -- plus the underlying raw metrics. The individual domain directories contain the source-level data if you want to dig deeper into any single dimension.

Dimensions Covered

1. Economic inequality: Gini coefficient, unemployment rate, labor force participation, deep poverty/near-poverty rates
2. Education: High school completion and bachelor's degree attainment by county
3. Healthcare access: Uninsured rates, hospital closure risk scores, rural healthcare gaps
4. Housing affordability: Rent burden (30%+ and 50%+ of income), rent-to-income ratios, minimum wage hours needed for median rent
5. Food access: Food desert status, SNAP eligibility vs. participation gaps, vehicle access
6. Disability: County-level disability rates from Census ACS with breakdowns by type
7. Poverty depth: Deep poverty, poverty, and near-poverty rates (three tiers)

Data Sources

All source data comes from US government agencies (public domain):

• Census Bureau ACS 2022: Demographics, income, disability, education, housing
• USDA Food Access Research Atlas: Food desert classifications
• CMS Hospital Compare: Hospital closure risk assessments
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Unemployment and labor force data

File Structure

• merged/inequality_master.csv -- The main file: 3,222 rows, 28 columns, one per county
• economic/ -- Gini index, unemployment, poverty depth by county
• education/ -- Educational attainment by county
• healthcare/ -- Healthcare desert classifications and hospital risk
• housing/ -- Rent burden and affordability analysis
• food_deserts/ -- Food desert data with SNAP and vehicle access
• disability/ -- Census disability rates by county

Composite Index

The composite inequality index normalizes each dimension to 0-1, then averages across available dimensions. Higher scores indicate more inequality. This lets you compare counties across fundamentally different metrics (a Gini coefficient vs. an uninsured rate vs. a food desert flag) on a common scale.

Use Cases

• County-level inequality mapping and choropleth visualization
• Identifying communities with compounding disadvantages (high scores across multiple dimensions)
• Policy analysis: which interventions would help the most counties?
• Regression analysis: how do different inequality dimensions correlate?
• Journalism and data storytelling about geographic inequality

This map shows areas within the City of Scranton defined as Food Deserts. It also shows the location of retailers within the City of Scranton that accept the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.Food DesertsThe 2009 USDA report measures the distance to the nearest healthy-food retailer, using the locations of supermarkets and large grocery stores as a proxy, by referencing 1-square-kilometer grids for geographical analysis. These grids come from the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) and are based on information from the 2000 Census of Population (SEDAC, 2006). These population data (including socioeconomic and demographic data), which are released at the block group level, are first allocated to blocks and then allocated aerially down to roughly 1-square-kilometer grids across the Continental United States. For each grid cell, the distance from its geographic center to the nearest supermarket or large grocery store is used to measure access for people who live in that grid. Grids that are farther than a specified distance from the nearest supermarket or large grocery store are considered areas of low access, and low-access areas with a large percentage of low-income population are noted in particular. Use of the grid-level data provides two important benefits for the analysis: first, the data provide greater accuracy in estimating where people and households are located than data on larger geographic areas, such as census tracts; thus, they provide better precision in measuring distance to stores. Second, the process of allocating census data to 1-square-kilometer grid cells transforms the irregular shapes and sizes of census geographies or other geographies, such as ZIP Codes, into regular grid cells. While the 1-square-kilometer grid-based measures increase the precision in measuring where people are and how far they are from sources of healthy food and provide consistency in defining geographic areas across the country, the SEDAC grids are not widely used geographic units. Currently, no standardized nomenclature exists to identify a specific grid (as counties, ZIP Codes, or census tracts can be identified), and they cannot easily be linked to other geocoded data. For this reason, the area-based definition of a food desert uses the census tract as the geographic unit of analysis because it is more commonly used and has a standardized numbering system. Census tracts are subdivisions of a county, containing between 1,000 and 8,000 people and ideally encompassing a population of about 4,000. In order to establish a consistent definition for national comparison, we define food deserts as low-income tracts in which a substantial number or proportion of the population has low access to supermarkets or large grocery stores. Low-income tracts are characterized by either a poverty rate equal to or greater than 20 percent, or a median family income that is 80 percent or less of the metropolitan area’s median family income (for tracts in metropolitan areas) or the statewide median family income (for tracts in nonmetropolitan areas). This definition of low-income tracts is used to designate tracts that are eligible for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. Low access is characterized by at least 500 people and/or 33 percent of the tract population residing more than 1 mile from a supermarket or large grocery in urban areas, and more than 10 miles in rural areas.SNAPSNAP authorized stores must meet one of two staple food requirements:Criterion A - staple food inventory; orCriterion B - staple food salesStaple foods are the basic foods that make up a significant portion of a person’s diet. They are usually prepared at home and eaten as a meal. They do not include prepared foods, heated foods, or accessory foods.Staple food categories:vegetables or fruitsdairy productsmeat, poultry, or fishbreads or cerealsCriterion AA store must have 3 stocking units of 3 different varieties for each staple food category on a continuous basis. For 2 staple food categories, there must be at least 1 perishable variety. Most stores are authorized under Criterion A.Criterion BA store must have more than 50 percent of its total gross retail sales from the sale of staple foods. Specialty stores, like butcher shops, are often authorized under Criterion B.Other Eligibility ConsiderationsFNS also takes other factors into account when determining the eligibility of your store. These are included but not limited to:Need for Access: Stores that do not meet Criterion A or Criterion B are still considered for authorization if they are in an area where SNAP clients have significantly limited access to food.Restaurants: Generally, SNAP does not allow participants to redeem benefits at restaurants. Your firm is considered a restaurant if more than 50% of your total gross retail sales come from sales of hot or cold prepared foods intended for immediate consumption. Only restaurants located in a State that operates the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) State Option can participate in SNAP.Co-Location: When multiple firms operating at the same location meet certain elements, FNS will consider them a single firm when determining eligibility for SNAP authorization.

After analyzing the map, there are some spatial concerns that need to be addressed. Most of the city has a trend of low median household income, and the least poor being in the central part of the city. The neighborhood of Jefferson in the eastern part of Denver is evidence of a food desert, as well as in the Lakeside suburb and Westwood (“Planting Seeds in Food Deserts: Neighborhood Gardens, Produce in Corner Stores” 2014) . One thing that really stood out to me was the lack of grocery stores in the eastern part of Denver, just bordering Aurora. This area is a food desert, and the average income of the area is below average. The wealthier neighborhoods are granted more sufficient access just near this part of Denver. We also see quality access to food towards the center of the city in the areas with lower income. The further we move outwards, the more and more the grocery stores start spreading out from a cluster form. From analyzing the map, it seems like living on the outskirts of Denver is where the lower income households will struggle with access to food

There are some very wealthy neighborhoods, specifically along Colorado Boulevard, where there are a lot of high quality grocery stores. This extensive street only has grocery stores located in the wealthy part of it. If we look north, towards the interstate, we see absolutely none located along Colorado Blvd. It is clear that the grocery stores were placed in the central part of Colorado Blvd, as opposed to the northern and southern parts where the average income is much lower. I believe this to be concrete evidence of a biased towards socioeconomic status.sources: “Planting Seeds in Food Deserts: Neighborhood Gardens, Produce in Corner Stores.” 2014. Accessed April 30. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14906833.

“USDA Economic Research Service - Food Access Research Atlas.” 2014. Accessed April 30. http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas#.U2A99le0RPW.

This map shows where food stores are located across California with gray dots. Along with that, the red indicates the income of the area. The dark red indicates areas with higher poverty rates and, and the lighter area indicates the places with lower poverty rates. When you first look at the graph it looks like California has a lot of food sources in most of the areas people live in. However, there is more to California's food sources when you take a closer look. The blue indicates poverty rates. (The darker blue means higher poverty rates, and the lighter blue mean lower poverty rates). And the blue and green dots indicate whether the food source is a grocery store or not. The red means it is not a food source and is a convenience store, and the green means it is a food source. As you can see there are way more red dots than green, meaning there are more convenience stores compared to regular grocery stores. A lot of the areas that only have red dots mean that that area is a food desert. That means they have no good quality fresh produce near them. Now let's take a closer look at some towns.

A food desert is defined as having limited access to supermarkets, grocery stores or a source of healthy/affordable food. This indicator displays tracts having low food access at 1 mile for urban areas and 10 miles for rural areas. If the tract scores a 1, then there is low food access and if it scores a 0, then low food access is not identified. The Food Access Research Atlas, available from the USDA, offers valuable insights into food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts. Users can access various measures of supermarket accessibility and obtain data on food access for specific populations within census tracts. This interactive tool allows users to create maps showcasing food access indicators and compare data from different years, such as 2019 and previous measurements from 2015. Moreover, the atlas provides valuable census-tract-level data on food access, which can be downloaded for community planning and research purposes. To explore the Food Access Research Atlas and access its data,Visit: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/download-the-data/

Map and data for the Food Base LA Food Systems Dashboard. This map contains 2020 Census Tracts for Los Angeles County, and a variety of other boundaries to support data analysis and exploration: the county itself, its 88 cities plus unincorporated cities, county statistical areas (CSA), county service planning areas (SPA), county supervisorial districts, LA Times neighborhoods, and City of Los Angeles Council Districts. Point data include L.A. County Department of Public Health Restaurant and Market Inventory and Inspection data (quarterly data for 2023-2025) and CalFresh (USDA SNAP) food retailer and restaurant meals locations. Datasets are time series when available, and organized by groups: Food Assistance and Benefits, Retail Food Outlets, Food Deserts, Resident Health, Resident Demographics, Neighborhood Characteristics, Green and Garden Spaces, and Schools.