What does this measure?
The share of low-income census tracts in an area that are food deserts.
Why is this important?
Food access is critical to health and well-being. Living in a food desert means getting food may require a personal vehicle or potentially lengthy and time-consuming travel on transit. In lower-income areas, this can be even more challenging due to the added costs of travel.
How is our region performing?
In 2019, the region had 26 low-income tracts that were food deserts, or 20% of the total low-income tracts in the region. This was above the proportion for the state of 10%. Among counties, Livingston had the highest share of low-income food deserts at 50% of census tracts, though that was only 2 tracts. Monroe County had the most low-income food deserts at 17 tracts, or 20% of the total. Several counties in the region had no low-income food deserts: Genesee, Seneca, Wyoming and Yates.
Notes about the data
In this dataset, a food desert is defined as a census tract where at least 500 people or 33 percent of the population live more than 1 mile from the nearest food store (supermarket, supercenter, or large grocery store) in an urban area or more than 10 miles from such a store in a rural area. Tracts are considered low-income if they have a poverty rate of 20% or more or if median family income is below or equal to 80% of the state or metro area median.
2019 | |
---|---|
NYS | 10% |
NYS (excluding NYC) | 22% |
Region | 20% |
Monroe | 20% |
Surrounding Counties | 22% |
Genesee | 0% |
Livingston | 50% |
Ontario | 40% |
Orleans | 25% |
Seneca | 0% |
Wayne | 23% |
Wyoming | 0% |
Yates | 0% |
Notes: 1 mile for urban areas and 10 miles for rural areas
2019 | |
---|---|
NYS | 194 |
NYS (excluding NYC) | 194 |
Region | 26 |
Monroe | 17 |
Surrounding Counties | 9 |
Genesee | 0 |
Livingston | 2 |
Ontario | 2 |
Orleans | 2 |
Seneca | 0 |
Wayne | 3 |
Wyoming | 0 |
Yates | 0 |
Notes: 1 mile for urban areas and 10 miles for rural areas
INDICATORS - Grouped by Topic | REGIONAL VALUE | YEAR | NYS COMPARISON | TREND | REGION |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tourism Spending | $1,399 | 2021 | 1 |
0
Maintaining
|
Recreation Spending | $83 | 2021 | 1 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Voter Registration Rate | 84% | 2021 | 2 |
1
Increasing
|
Voter Participation Rate | 64% | 2020 | 3 |
1
Increasing
|
Registered Library Borrowers | 55% | 2020 | 3 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Library Visits | 2.5 | 2020 | 3 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Charitable Contributions as a Percentage of Income | 0.8% | 2020 | 2 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Households Without Vehicles | 10% | 2017-21 | 3 |
0
Maintaining
|
Means of Transportation to Work | 2017-21 | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* | |
Workers’ Commute Time, by Means of Transportation to Work | 2017-21 | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* | |
Crashes Involving Pedestrians | 2.6 | 2022 | 3 |
0
Maintaining
|
Crashes Involving Cyclists | 1.4 | 2022 | 3 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Vehicle Crashes Resulting in Injuries and Fatalities | 60 | 2022 | 3 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) | 24 | 2022 | 2 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Miles of Dedicated Bike Infrastructure | 2023 | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* | |
RTS Ridership | 8 | 2022 | 0 |
-1
Decreasing
|
RTS On-time Performance | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* | ||
Greenhouse Gas Emissions | 23.7 | 2018 | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* |
Energy Burden of Households | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* | ||
Solar Energy Capacity | 122.8 | 2022 | 3 |
1
Increasing
|
Gas Usage for Household Heating | 74% | 2017-21 | 1 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Clean Energy Workforce | 4.7% | 2021 | 3 |
1
Increasing
|
Clean Energy Communities | 2023 | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* | |
Electric Vehicles (EV) Charging Ports | 165 | 2023 | 0 |
-1
Decreasing
|
Asthma Hospitalizations | 0 | 10 Not Applicable* | ||
Food Deserts | 35% | 2019 | 1 | 10 Not Applicable* |
Food Deserts in Low-Income Areas | 20% | 2019 | 1 | 10 Not Applicable* |