Local news access is uneven across the United States. The 2025 edition of The State of Local News counted 212 counties with no local news source and 1,525 counties with only one, leaving about 50 million people in counties with zero or one local source.
Contents
- How many people live with limited local news
- How population exposure changed from 2005 to 2025
- Who lives in news desert counties
- Where local-news scarcity is concentrated
- Digital access and geographic gaps
- Public broadcasting reach
- The population-facing sustainability picture
How many people live with limited local news
The 2025 report identifies a large population living with little or no local-news choice. Of the 3,144 U.S. counties counted in 2025, 212 had zero local news sources. Another 1,525 had only one local source, usually a weekly newspaper. Together, those county categories contained about 50 million Americans, described in the report as about one in seven Americans. The State of Local News 2025
The year-to-year county count shows a mixed movement. In 2024, 206 counties had no local news source and 1,561 had only one. In 2025, the zero-source count rose to 212, while the one-source count fell to 1,525. The report therefore records six more counties with no source and 36 fewer counties with exactly one source between 2024 and 2025. These are county counts, not a measure of population change. The State of Local News 2024; The State of Local News 2025
The 2024 report estimated that nearly 55 million Americans had limited to no access to local news. More than 3.5 million people lived in the 206 counties with no local source identified that year. These 2024 estimates should be read as figures from that report’s measurement period, rather than as independently verified historical facts. The State of Local News 2024
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Counties with no local news source | 206 | 212 |
| Counties with one local news source | 1,561 | 1,525 |
| Population in zero- or one-source counties | Nearly 55 million with limited to no access | About 50 million |
The population totals and county totals describe related but different dimensions of scarcity. A county count shows the geographic spread of the problem; a population count shows how many people are exposed to it. The 2025 report’s “about one in seven” estimate applies to people in zero- or one-source counties, while the separate newspaper measure below covers a broader population category.
How population exposure changed from 2005 to 2025
Newspaper scarcity expanded substantially over the 2005–2025 period. The United States had three newspapers per 100,000 residents in 2005, compared with 1.6 in 2025. In population terms, just over 37 million people lived in counties with zero or one newspaper in 2005. More than 88 million did so in 2025, a population described by the report as one in four Americans. The State of Local News 2025
The newspaper figures are not interchangeable with the local-news-source figures. A county can have a local-news source that is not a newspaper, and the report separately tracks newspapers and broader local-news supply. Still, the two measures point in the same direction: the population exposed to very limited local coverage is larger in the 2025 measurement than in the 2005 comparison.
More than three-quarters of the 2025 population in zero- or one-newspaper counties remained reliant on a newspaper as its only news source. That combination—fewer newspapers overall and continued dependence among people with limited alternatives—makes the remaining newspaper capacity especially consequential for local information access. The State of Local News 2025
The supply contraction was also visible in publication counts. Close to 3,500 U.S. newspapers ceased printing between 2005 and 2025. Almost 70% of the newspapers that vanished were in predominantly urban counties, and one-quarter of the losses occurred in 10 metropolitan areas. Almost one-third of U.S. cities lost more than half of their newspapers during the period. The State of Local News 2025
The report gives two city examples. Milwaukee lost 80% of its newspapers over the two decades ending in 2025. Columbus, Ohio, lost 74%, with more than 45 papers disappearing between 2005 and 2025. These examples show that local-news decline was not limited to remote counties; substantial losses also occurred in cities and metropolitan areas. The State of Local News 2025
Who lives in news desert counties
The 2025 report compares news desert counties and watch-list counties with a national benchmark. News desert counties had a median household income of $61,595, compared with $54,135 in watch-list counties and a U.S. median household income benchmark of $77,719. The figures describe 2025 conditions and should not be treated as causal evidence about why a county has limited local news. The State of Local News 2025
Educational attainment was also lower in the two local-news risk categories than in the national benchmark. In news desert counties, 20.5% of residents had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The corresponding figure for watch-list counties was 19.4%, compared with 36.2% for the U.S. benchmark.
The age pattern ran in the opposite direction. The median age was 43.5 years in news desert counties and 45.2 years in watch-list counties, compared with a U.S. median age benchmark of 39.2 years. Thus, both county groups were older on this measure than the national benchmark in the report.
Poverty rates were 16.4% in news desert counties and 18.3% in watch-list counties, against a 12.5% U.S. benchmark. These values provide a population profile, not a forecast for every resident or county.
The watch-list category includes a forward-looking measure. In 2025, it identified 249 counties with more than a 40% likelihood of becoming a news desert within the next decade. That is a forecasted risk threshold, not a statement that those counties will become news deserts or that the transition will occur on a fixed schedule. The State of Local News 2025
Where local-news scarcity is concentrated
Rural geography is central to the 2025 pattern: almost 80% of news deserts were in counties classified by the USDA as predominantly rural. The 2024 report placed the comparable share at three-quarters. Because the reports use different measurement years, the percentages should be kept separate rather than treated as one continuous estimate. The State of Local News 2024; The State of Local News 2025
The 2025 report gives several state-level population counts. Mississippi had 72% of its residents living in a county with limited local-news access. Georgia had 5 million people living in zero- or one-source local-news counties, followed by Texas with 4 million, North Carolina with 2.9 million, and Kentucky with 2.38 million. These are 2025 figures and use the report’s zero- or one-source definition. The State of Local News 2025
The 2024 report also described the types of counties in its news-desert population. Graying America counties represented 15% of news deserts, while Aging Farmlands represented 14%. Hispanic Centers accounted for 13%, and African American South counties another 13%. Evangelical Hubs accounted for 12%, and Rural Middle America for 11%. These categories are descriptive classifications used in the report for 2024, not mutually generalized labels for every resident. The State of Local News 2024
Digital access and geographic gaps
Digital publication does not automatically erase geographic inequality. In 2025, residents of the 212 news desert counties had access to the fastest terrestrial internet speeds at a rate below 50% on average. In 20% of those counties, fewer than 10% of residents could access the fastest terrestrial speeds. The State of Local News 2025
The local-news digital supply was also concentrated away from rural counties. Only one-quarter of the nearly 500 counties with a digital local-news outlet were rural in 2025. More than 90% of digital-only local-news sites were in USDA-designated metro counties. The State of Local News 2025
The 2024 digital counts show a similar geographic pattern. Of the 662 standalone digital local-news sites tracked that year, 87% were in metro areas. More than 95% of network local-news sites were located in 179 metropolitan counties. The figures indicate where digital outlets were located; they do not measure the number of people who read them or the quality of their coverage. The State of Local News 2024
Public broadcasting reach
Public broadcasting reaches more counties than many other local-news formats. In 2025, public-broadcasting signals reached more than 90% of U.S. counties and 82% of news desert counties. Primary public-radio stations reached 46% of news desert counties and 53% of counties with only one news source. The State of Local News 2025
Including repeaters, public-radio signals reached 90% of counties with only one news source. Public broadcasting was the sole local-news source in nine counties and one of only two local-news sources in 42 counties. These counts show potential reach and source position, not audience size or the amount of locally produced programming in each county.
The location of stations remains uneven. Two-thirds of public-radio stations originated from urban locations in 2025, leaving one-third outside urban locations. The broad county reach therefore coexists with an urban concentration in station origins. The State of Local News 2025
The population-facing sustainability picture
U.S. newspaper circulation was about 120 million in 2005 and close to 38 million in 2025. Over approximately 2021–2025, monthly pageviews for the 100 largest newspaper websites declined by more than 45%; only 11 of those 100 websites experienced readership growth during that period. The State of Local News 2025
Public media also faces a funding distribution that matters for underserved populations. Roughly two-thirds of public-broadcasting stations received more than 10% of their funding from government sources in 2023–2024. About 10% received more than 40% from government sources. Of the 24 counties with stations receiving more than 40% of funding from federal sources, half were classified as very rural in 2023–2024. The State of Local News 2025
Audience value remains measurable alongside these pressures. An estimated two-thirds of Americans said they valued local programming from public media stations in 2025. Taken together with the county-reach figures, that estimate describes a broad population-facing role for public media while leaving open questions about local staffing, reporting depth, funding stability, and audience use in individual communities. The State of Local News 2025