With the national uninsured rate back on the rise for health coverage, after dipping to a record low of 8.6% in the first quarter of 2016, the personal finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017’s Uninsured Rates by City and by State.
WalletHub’s analysts compared the rates for 547 U.S. cities and the 50 states, in addition to a breakdown by age, race/ethnicity and income level.
Massachusetts has the lowest uninsured rate and is the only state where fewer than 3% of its residents lack health insurance. On the other end of the spectrum, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents – about 16 of every 100 Texans have no health insurance.
While Massachusetts has the lowest rate overall, only one of its cities (Newton with (1.866%) placed among the top 10 of the 547 ranked for lowest rates of uninsured residents. Cities in California dominated the top of that list, claiming seven of the 10 spots, led by Elk Grove, where only 1.654% of residents lack health insurance.
Predictably, cities in Texas dominated the list of cities with the most residents lacking health insurance. Brownsville, where 29.24% of residents have no health insurance, placed last among the 547 cities ranked.
The following lists show the states and cities with the lowest and highest uninsured resident rates as compiled by the reports:
States with Lowest Uninsured Rates
- Massachusetts (2.54%)
- Hawaii (3.53%)
- Vermont (3.72%)
- Minnesota (4.12%)
- Iowa (4.26%)
- Rhode Island (4.32%)
- Connecticut (4.89%)
- Kentucky (5.13%)
- Wisconsin (5.26%)
- West Virginia (5.32%)
States with Highest Uninsured Rates
41. Louisiana (10.26%)
42. North Carolina (10.43%)
43. Nevada (11.37%)
44. Wyoming (11.55%)
45. Mississippi (11.84%)
46. Florida (12.54%)
47. Georgia (12.94%)
48. Oklahoma (13.77%)
49. Alaska (14.01%)
50. Texas (16.60%)
Cities with Lowest Uninsured Rates
- Elk Grove, CA (1.654%)
- Folsom, CA (1.679%)
- Fremont, CA (1.683%)
- Ellicott City, MD (1.685%)
- Redondo Beach, CA (1.727%)
- Newton, MA (1.866%)
- Union City, CA (1.889%)
- Newport Beach, CA (1.985%)
- O’Fallon, MO (2.133%)
- San Ramon, CA (2.205%)
Cities with Highest Uninsured Rates
538. Dallas, TX (22.238%)
539. Passaic, NJ (22.689%)
540. Baytown, TX (22.721%)
541. McAllen, TX (23.356%)
542. Hialeah, FL (23.802%)
543. Pasadena, TX (25.967%)
544. Pharr, TX (26.974%)
545. Laredo, TX (27.023%)
546. Mission, TX (27.232%)
547. Brownsville, TX (29.240%)
Full rankings by state: https://wallethub.com/edu/uninsured-rates-by-state/4800/
Full rankings by city:https://wallethub.com/edu/uninsured-rates-by-city/25030/
In order to measure the rates of uninsured by state, WalletHub’s analysts compared the overall insurance rates in the 50 states in 2016 using U.S. Census Bureau data.
