A new study reveals that a majority of American counties have either one local news outlet or none at all, following a rise in closures of local newspapers.

As reported by Axios, the data compiled by the Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism reveals that over half of the United States’ 3,143 counties have either one local media outlet, or zero; this amounts to approximately 55 million people with limited or no access to local news.

According to Northwestern, there were 127 newspaper closures in the United States last year alone, equating to about two and a half papers shutting down every week. This has led to the loss of over one-third of all American newspapers, which numbers about 3,300, since 2005. During that same 19-year period, there has been a decline in newspaper jobs of at least 73%. Total newspaper circulation is down approximately 65% in the same period, from 115 million to about 40 million.

In 2024, the number of localities without any sources of news, known as “news deserts,” rose to 208, a slight increase from 204 in 2023. In the same one-year span, the number of counties that became at high risk of losing all local news outlets rose by 22%.

The majority of such news-deprived localities are often low-income and low-education, as well as older in population. The median household income in such an area is approximately $57,000, while the percentage of the population that holds a bachelor’s degree or higher is a mere 18.2%. Over 75% of such “news deserts” are in rural areas.

However, the study noted an increase in all-digital news outlets, as a result of some local newspapers switching from print to digital in order to preserve their operations. In the last year, the number of standalone local news websites rose by 81 to 630. Over one-third of these new sites are owned by a local outlet rather than a larger network of multiple outlets.