The US News Desert Map

Where local news has thinned out — and where earned media is hardest to come by. Switch between state and county views below.

213

US counties with no local news source

1,524

counties with only one remaining source

~50M

people with limited or no local news

County shading: tracked local-news outlets per county (Aubin Le Quéré et al., Cornell sTech Lab dataset, ICWSM 2022; ~60% outlet coverage). National figures: Medill Local News Initiative, 2025 State of Local News (Northwestern).

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Well coveredWatchAt riskHigh riskNews desert

Select a stateOverview

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limited-news score

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counties, no source

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counties, one source

Hover or tap a state to see its local-news picture. Darker areas have the fewest outlets — where a client's story has the least chance of being covered locally.

How Resolve reads this map: where local coverage is thin, digital PR — data studies, expert commentary and outreach to regional and national desks — is how brands still earn authoritative mentions and links. Map compiled by Resolve.

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County colors from a real local-news outlet dataset (~60% coverage) · see source notePowered by Resolve