In the Medill Local News Initiative's 2026 data, 238 US counties have no local news source. Texas has the most, with 34, followed by Georgia and Virginia with 16 each. The state figures add up to 1,478 more counties with only one source. The table gives every state and the District of Columbia.
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Book a call with ToddThe Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University defines news deserts as "places where there is no locally based source of professional local news remaining." Its 2026 report counts 238 such counties nationally, and "more than 1,400 other counties" where "only one source of local news remains, usually a weekly newspaper." (Medill, 2026)
The table below gives Medill's figures for each state, as shown on its state map. Medill's national figure for one-source counties is "more than 1,400"; the state figures add up to 1,478.
Counties with little or no local news, by state
| Alabama | 2 | 33 |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 7 | 5 |
| Arizona | 1 | 3 |
| Arkansas | 3 | 48 |
| California | 2 | 16 |
| Colorado | 6 | 29 |
| Connecticut | 0 | 1 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | 6 | 24 |
| Georgia | 16 | 120 |
| Hawaii | 1 | 0 |
| Idaho | 9 | 25 |
| Illinois | 15 | 36 |
| Indiana | 5 | 44 |
| Iowa | 0 | 25 |
| Kansas | 9 | 53 |
| Kentucky | 8 | 84 |
| Louisiana | 4 | 27 |
| Maine | 4 | 3 |
| Maryland | 0 | 9 |
| Massachusetts | 0 | 1 |
| Michigan | 3 | 34 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 18 |
| Mississippi | 5 | 64 |
| Missouri | 2 | 69 |
| Montana | 11 | 29 |
| Nebraska | 12 | 50 |
| Nevada | 2 | 7 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 1 |
| New Jersey | 0 | 1 |
| New Mexico | 6 | 14 |
| New York | 0 | 14 |
| North Carolina | 8 | 49 |
| North Dakota | 3 | 32 |
| Ohio | 4 | 35 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 32 |
| Oregon | 3 | 12 |
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 18 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 4 | 24 |
| South Dakota | 7 | 34 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 65 |
| Texas | 34 | 134 |
| Utah | 6 | 14 |
| Vermont | 1 | 3 |
| Virginia | 16 | 64 |
| Washington | 2 | 10 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 35 |
| Wisconsin | 2 | 22 |
| Wyoming | 0 | 8 |
The states with the most news deserts
Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina have the most counties with no local news source. In 11 of the 51, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wyoming, Medill counts none.
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How to read the table
- A county with one source is one closure away from becoming a news desert. That one source is "usually a weekly newspaper," Medill says.
- A county is the unit. Medill counts by county, so a state with many small counties can show high numbers.
- The numbers move. Medill updates its data each year. Its 2026 report found 26 more news deserts than the year before. For the national picture, see local news statistics.
Use this data
Our table, CSV and chart may be reused with a link to this page. The figures are Medill's, so cite the Medill Local News Initiative as their source.
To cite this page: NewsUSA, "News deserts by state," trynewsusa.com/news-deserts-by-state, updated November 8, 2026, from Medill Local News Initiative data.
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Questions
Which state has the most news deserts?
Texas, with 34 counties that have no local news source in the Medill Local News Initiative's 2026 data. Georgia and Virginia follow with 16 each.
What is a news desert?
The Medill Local News Initiative defines news deserts as "places where there is no locally based source of professional local news remaining." It counts them by county.
How many US counties are news deserts in 2026?
238, according to the Medill Local News Initiative's 2026 report, 26 more than a year earlier. More than 1,400 other counties have only one local news source.
Where do these state figures come from?
From the state figures on the Medill Local News Initiative's map, 2026 data, read on November 8, 2026. The state counts of news deserts add up to Medill's national figure of 238.
How this page was made
Figures copied from the state figures on the Medill Local News Initiative's map (November 8, 2026), which match its 2026 report: the state counts of news deserts add up to the report's national 238. Medill gives no exact national figure for one-source counties, only "more than 1,400"; the state figures add up to 1,478. NewsUSA did not change or estimate any number. How these guides are made.