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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Washington

2 persistent-poverty counties

Washington has 2 persistent-poverty counties and 20 nonmetro counties — home to 89,853 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 9.9% and child poverty is 11.9%.

2

Persistent-poverty counties

20

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

90K

Residents in PPCs

39

Total counties

Washington by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Washington at a glance

Poverty rate

9.9%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

11.9%

Under 18

PPC share

5.1%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

51.3%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

3.49

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.19

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Washington's 270 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 39 in Washington.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Okanogan 0.56
  2. 2 Whitman 0.51
  3. 3 Klickitat 0.35
  4. 4 San Juan 0.34
  5. 5 Wahkiakum 0.33

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Whitman 23.7%
  2. 2 Adams 20.5%
  3. 3 Okanogan 18.5%
  4. 4 Wahkiakum 15.7%
  5. 5 Ferry 15.6%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Whitman 23.7%
  2. 2 Okanogan 18.5%

Every county in Washington

All 39 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Adams 6 — Low ed., Housing 20.5% 28.0% 20,690 0.27
Asotin 3 — Retire. 14.9% 18.9% 22,424 0.13
Benton 2 — — 11.1% 15.4% 210,224 0.08
Chelan 3 — — 9.0% 11.8% 79,518 0.11
Clallam 5 — Housing, Retire. 10.8% 13.1% 77,593 0.19
Clark 1 — Housing 8.4% 10.0% 510,516 0.03
Columbia 8 — — 9.0% 4.8% 3,996 0.30
Cowlitz 3 — Housing 13.0% 16.7% 111,539 0.13
Douglas 3 — — 7.9% 8.7% 43,733 0.11
Ferry 8 — Retire. 15.6% 21.4% 7,326 0.32
Franklin 2 — Housing 13.0% 16.7% 97,676 0.09
Garfield 8 — — 10.8% 13.8% 2,326 0.31
Grant 5 — Housing 15.0% 18.3% 100,428 0.21
Grays Harbor 4 — Housing, Retire. 14.1% 20.1% 76,397 0.17
Island 4 — Low emp., Housing, Retire. 7.0% 6.8% 86,747 0.14
Jefferson 6 — Housing, Retire. 12.6% 22.7% 33,313 0.24
King 1 — Housing 8.4% 9.2% 2,262,713 0.03
Kitsap 2 — Housing 8.3% 10.2% 276,581 0.07
Kittitas 4 — Housing, Retire. 14.3% 15.6% 44,736 0.17
Klickitat 9 — Retire. 13.7% 16.7% 23,082 0.35
Lewis 4 — Housing, Retire. 13.0% 15.6% 83,925 0.16
Lincoln 8 — — 10.4% 16.9% 11,271 0.30
Mason 4 — Housing, Retire. 12.6% 15.6% 66,968 0.16
Okanogan 6 Yes — 18.5% 24.6% 42,811 0.56
Pacific 7 — Retire. 11.6% 11.7% 23,750 0.27
Pend Oreille 8 — Retire. 13.6% 15.5% 13,811 0.32
Pierce 1 — Housing 8.9% 10.5% 924,106 0.04
San Juan 9 — Housing, Retire. 10.5% 13.7% 18,266 0.34
Skagit 3 — Housing, Retire. 11.6% 16.9% 130,407 0.12
Skamania 1 — Housing 8.3% 7.2% 12,276 0.03
Snohomish 1 — Housing 7.9% 9.1% 834,648 0.03
Spokane 2 — Housing 12.2% 13.4% 544,323 0.09
Stevens 2 — Retire. 12.9% 17.1% 47,470 0.09
Thurston 2 — Housing 9.7% 11.9% 296,640 0.08
Wahkiakum 8 — Housing, Retire. 15.7% 18.3% 4,573 0.33
Walla Walla 3 — Housing 11.7% 13.6% 62,102 0.12
Whatcom 3 — Housing 12.7% 12.9% 228,432 0.13
Whitman 4 Yes Housing 23.7% 11.0% 47,042 0.51
Yakima 2 — Housing 15.4% 20.8% 256,605 0.10

Find a food pantry in Washington

Search Washington's 270 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Washington pantry directory

Washington SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Washington SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Washington food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology