Blacks account for about 12% of the US population but experience worse health outcomes and less access to care compared to whites. Blacks have higher rates of poverty, lower rates of private health insurance, and higher reliance on Medicaid. While some health measures have improved for blacks, they still have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, asthma, and report poorer health overall than whites. Barriers like lower education levels, food insecurity, and unsafe neighborhoods also disproportionately affect black communities.

1. Health and Health Care for Blacks in the United
States
Updated January 2018

2. Figure 1
2016:
About 39 million people
living in the U.S. are
Black, making up nearly
1 in 8 of the population.
NOTE: Blacks are non-Hispanic.
SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of March 2017 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement;
U.S. Census Bureau, Projections of the Population by Sex, Hispanic Origin, and Race for the United States 2015 to 2060.
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2014/demo/popproj/2014-summary-tables.html.
2045:
Blacks are projected to
account for about 50
million people living in
the U.S.
Blacks account for 12% of the population in the United
States.

3. Figure 2
NOTE: Blacks are non-Hispanic. States outlined in orange have not adopted Medicaid expansion. Expansion has not yet been
implemented in Maine.
SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of March 2017 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
Blacks make up a greater share of the population in the
South, where most states have not expanded Medicaid.
WA
OR
WY
UT
TX
SD
OK
ND
NM
NV
NE
MT
LA
KS
ID
HI
CO
CA
AR
AZ
AK
WI
WV VA
TN
SC
OH
NC
MO
MS
MN
MI
KY
IA
INIL
GA
FL
AL
VT
PA
NY
NJ
NH
MA
ME
DC
CT
DE
RI
MD
Share of total population that is Black by state, 2016
5-15% (20 states)
< 5% (19 states)
> 15% (12 states,
including DC)
No Medicaid
Expansion (18 states)

4. Figure 3
58%*
23%*
74%*
50%
9%
85%
Age 0-34 Family Income Below Poverty Full-Time Worker in Family
Black White
*Indicates statistically significant difference from the White population at the p<0.05 level.
NOTE: Whites and Blacks are non-Hispanic. Includes nonelderly individuals 0-64 years of age.
SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of March 2017 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
Nonelderly Blacks are younger, more likely to be poor, and
less likely to have a full-time worker in the family
compared to Whites.

5. Figure 4
76
62
54
8 7 6
2008 2011 2015
Black
White
Notes: Whites and Blacks are non-Hispanic. HIV diagnoses rates are for ages 13 and older. Birth rate for 1991 excludes data for
New Hampshire.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
(NCHHSTP) AtlasPlus; NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Natality, reported in
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db259.pdf.
118
62
32
43
27
16
1991 2004 2015
There have been large improvements in some health
measures for Blacks, but they still fare worse than Whites.
HIV Diagnosis Rate per 100,000 among Teens
and Adults, 2008-2015
Birth Rate per 1,000 among Teen Girls
Ages 15-19, 1991-2015

6. Figure 5
14%*
10%* 12%*
39%*
9% 7%
10%
29%
Reports Fair or Poor
Health Status
Told By Doctor They
Have Diabetes
Report Currently Having
Asthma
Adults Who are Obese
Black White
*Indicates statistically significant difference from White population at the p<0.05 level.
NOTE: Whites and Blacks are non-Hispanic. Includes nonelderly individuals 18-64 years of age.
SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of CDC, National Health Interview Survey, 2016, Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of
CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2016.
Nonelderly Black adults also face disparities in other health
measures compared to their White counterparts.
Health status and selected health conditions among nonelderly adults

7. Figure 6
14%
23% 23%
7%
9%
7%
Less than a
High School Education
Food Insecure Household Parents Report
their Children Live in
an Unsafe Neighborhood
Black White
SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2016, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic
Research Services, Household Food Security in the United states in 2016, Child Trends, Neighborhood Safety, 2013,
http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=neighborhood-safety.
Additionally, Blacks are more likely to face other
challenges that affect health and access to care.

8. Figure 7
17%
13%
12% 12%12%
9%
8% 8%
2013 2014 2015 2016
Black
White
Note: Whites and Blacks are non-Hispanic. Includes nonelderly individuals 0-64 years of age.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of March 2014-2017 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic
Supplement.
The uninsured rate for Blacks declined after the ACA, but
they still are more likely than Whites to be uninsured.
Uninsured Rate Among Nonelderly Individuals, 2013-2016

9. Figure 8
28%*
17%
54%*
30%
58%* 74%
41%*
66%
14%* 9% 6%* 4%
Black White Black White
Uninsured
Employer/Other Private
Medicaid/Other Public
*Indicates statistically significant difference from White population at the p<0.05 level.
NOTE: Whites and Blacks are non-Hispanic. Includes nonelderly adults 19-64 years of age and children 0-18 years of age. Totals
may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation of March 2017 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
Given gaps in private coverage, Medicaid is a key source of
coverage for Blacks, particularly among children.
Nonelderly Adults Children
Health Insurance Coverage for Nonelderly Blacks and Whites, 2016