Black Health by State
How Black residents are doing, state by state
Race gaps in US health outcomes vary enormously by state. A Black mother giving birth in Louisiana faces a mortality rate more than twice what she would face in California. A Black man with high blood pressure in Mississippi is three times less likely to have it controlled than one in Maryland. These are not natural differences — they are the product of policy, provider supply, insurance coverage, and history.
These pages lay the numbers out state by state, with the primary-source dataset linked in every headline. No AI-paraphrased restatement of a press release — every figure is pulled from CDC WONDER, US Census ACS, KFF, or SAMHSA, cited inline, and dated.
All 50 states & DC
Alabama
1,301,247 Black residents · 25.9%
Alaska
22,741 Black residents · 3.1%
Arizona
363,210 Black residents · 5.0%
Arkansas
460,091 Black residents · 15.2%
California
2,218,283 Black residents · 5.6%
Colorado
243,122 Black residents · 4.2%
Connecticut
398,115 Black residents · 11.1%
Delaware
229,541 Black residents · 22.7%
Florida
3,444,830 Black residents · 15.7%
Georgia
3,543,100 Black residents · 32.6%
Hawaii
24,814 Black residents · 1.7%
Idaho
16,502 Black residents · 0.9%
Illinois
1,741,108 Black residents · 13.9%
Indiana
642,401 Black residents · 9.5%
Iowa
128,018 Black residents · 4.0%
Kansas
173,124 Black residents · 5.9%
Kentucky
376,415 Black residents · 8.4%
Louisiana
1,476,023 Black residents · 31.8%
Maine
24,028 Black residents · 1.8%
Maryland
1,782,913 Black residents · 29.0%
Massachusetts
531,032 Black residents · 7.6%
Michigan
1,385,196 Black residents · 13.8%
Minnesota
425,420 Black residents · 7.4%
Mississippi
1,081,495 Black residents · 36.6%
Missouri
704,131 Black residents · 11.4%
Montana
5,462 Black residents · 0.5%
Nebraska
94,512 Black residents · 4.8%
Nevada
315,088 Black residents · 10.0%
New Hampshire
23,040 Black residents · 1.6%
New Jersey
1,191,016 Black residents · 12.7%
New Mexico
46,209 Black residents · 2.2%
New York
2,967,519 Black residents · 14.8%
North Carolina
2,216,316 Black residents · 20.9%
North Dakota
24,022 Black residents · 3.1%
Ohio
1,496,417 Black residents · 12.7%
Oklahoma
297,842 Black residents · 7.4%
Oregon
89,514 Black residents · 2.1%
Pennsylvania
1,423,032 Black residents · 11.0%
Rhode Island
81,325 Black residents · 7.5%
South Carolina
1,355,140 Black residents · 26.0%
South Dakota
22,814 Black residents · 2.6%
Tennessee
1,186,320 Black residents · 16.9%
Texas
3,829,124 Black residents · 12.7%
Utah
48,214 Black residents · 1.4%
Vermont
9,402 Black residents · 1.5%
Virginia
1,619,517 Black residents · 18.7%
Washington
316,410 Black residents · 4.1%
West Virginia
63,428 Black residents · 3.6%
Wisconsin
372,018 Black residents · 6.3%
Wyoming
5,014 Black residents · 0.9%
District of Columbia
297,123 Black residents · 44.1%
Methodology & data sources
Mortality figures come from CDC WONDER and the CDC National Vital Statistics System. Population, income, and insurance figures come from US Census ACS 1- and 5-year releases. Medicaid enrollment and policy status come from the KFF Medicaid tracker and individual state Medicaid portals. Mental health access is from SAMHSA NSDUH and HRSA workforce data.
Cell suppression: any state-year with fewer than 10 events is suppressed per CDC small-area guidance. Race/ethnicity categories reflect self-reported race on vital records or Census self-identification (Black or African American alone, not in combination, unless otherwise noted).
Refresh cadence: maternal mortality and infant mortality are refreshed monthly; cardiovascular, cancer, life expectancy, insurance, and Medicaid annually; mental health access every other year.