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Food Environment – SNAP-Authorized Food Stores

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This indicator reports the number of SNAP-authorized food stores as a rate per 10,000 population. SNAP-authorized stores include grocery stores as well as supercenters, specialty food stores, and convenience stores that are authorized to accept SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits.

Source

US Department of Agriculture, USDA – SNAP Retailer Locator, 2025.
Additional data analysis by CARES.

Source Description

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. FNS works to end hunger and obesity through the administration of 15 federal nutrition assistance programs including WIC, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and school meals. In partnership with State and Tribal governments, FNS’ programss serve one in four Americans during the course of a year. The FNS mission is to increase food security and reduce hunger by providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet and nutrition education in a way that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence.

Methodology

Locations of SNAP-Authorized retailers are acquired from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) SNAP Retailers Locator. These data were processed and each retailer was assigned to the census tract which it fell entirely within. Counts of retailers per each census tract were generated. SNAP-retailer access rates were then calculated for each tract based on the number of stores per 10,000 population.

Locations of SNAP-authorized retailers are compiled by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, SNAP Benefits Redemption Division. These data are updated periodically and was last current as of Dec. 15, 2021. Population data are from the Federal Communications Commission 2020 Block-Level Population Estimates data files. Indicator data are presented as a rate per 10,000 population based on the following formula:

Rate = [SNAP-Authorized Retailers] / [Total Population] * 10,000

For more information, please refer to the SNAP Retailer Locator documentation.

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