How Close is Your Grocery Store?

How far do Americans live from the nearest supermarket? Using a combination of store and population data, the USDA's Economic Research Service estimated how far Americans have to go to get to the nearest store.

Percent distribution of population by distance to nearest supermarket
Under 0.5 miles: 30.0%
0.5 to 1.0 miles: 29.9%
More than 1.0 miles: 40.0%

The median distance to the nearest supermarket for the population as a whole is 0.88 miles. Not surprisingly, people in urban areas are closer to a food store than those in rural areas. The median distance to the nearest supermarket for people in urban areas is 0.69 miles, while people in rural areas are a median of 3.11 miles from the nearest store.

"Accessing affordable and nutritious food is a challenge for many Americans," explains the report. One of the goals of the analysis was to determine how many Americans live in census tracts with "low access" to food stores. Low access is defined, for urban residents, as living more than 1 mile from the nearest supermarket. For rural residents, low-access is defined as living more than 10 miles from the nearest store. The state with the largest share of low-access census tracts relative to the state's total census tracts is South Dakota (62.6 percent).

Another goal of the analysis was to determine how many Americans live in census tracts that are both low access and low income. The state with the largest share of low-access/low-income census tracts relative to the state's total census tracts is Mississippi (31.3 percent).

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Understanding Low-Income and Low-Access Census Tracts Across the Nation: Subnational and Subpopulation Estimates of Access to Healthy Food

Online Is Close to Top Venue for Christmas Shopping

Ask Americans where they will do their Christmas shopping, and the single most popular venue is (still) the department store, according to a Gallup survey. Fully 72 percent of the public reports being very/somewhat likely to shop at a department store for Christmas gifts. Department stores have been the number-one venue since Gallup first asked this question in 1998.

Close behind department stores and tied for second place with discount stores is online shopping: 65 percent of the public says it is very/somewhat likely to shop for Christmas gifts online. At the rate online shopping is growing, it will surpass department stores the next time Gallup asks this question...

Very/somewhat likely to shop online for Christmas gifts
2017: 65%
2013: 53%
2008: 43%
2002: 29%
1998: 10%

Young adults are most likely to say they are very/somewhat likely to shop online for Christmas (76 percent). People aged 65 or older are least likely (47 percent).

Source: Gallup, Holiday Spending Plans: Online Up, Discount Stores Down

Shopping with a Cellphone

Most Americans, regardless of age, are online shoppers. Overall, 79 percent of adults have ever bought something online, according to a Pew survey. The figure ranges from a high of 90 percent among 18-to-29-year-olds to a low of 59 percent among those aged 65-plus.

Less common is using a cellphone to shop online. Nevertheless, the 51 percent majority of Americans have shopped with a cellphone, reports Pew. Adults under age 50 are far more likely than those aged 50 or older to use their cellphone to shop online.

Percent who have ever used their cellphone to buy something online
Aged 18 to 29: 77%
Aged 30 to 49: 64%
Aged 50 to 64: 36%
Aged 65-plus: 17%

Source: Pew Research Center, Online Shopping and E-Commerce