Density of farmers' markets highest in rural counties

In 2009, there were 5,240 farmers' markets spread across 3,141 U.S. counties, parishes, and boroughs. About a third of U.S. counties had no farmers' markets. Across the Nation, large urban counties had the highest numbers of farmers' markets, while less-populated rural counties had the fewest. But after accounting for population differences between counties, the number of farmers' markets per population tended to be highest in rural counties. Densities greater than 7.6 farmers' markets per 100,000 residents were more common for rural counties than for urban counties, indicating that many rural counties had greater per capita availability of farmers' markets than urban counties. This map first appeared in the December 2010 issue of Amber Waves magazine.

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