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County profile Alabama Metropolitan HRSA MUA/P

Black health in Jefferson County, Alabama

288,431

Black residents (ACS)

43.06%

Of county population

$40,500

Median household income, Black

15.10%

Uninsured, Black residents

Jefferson County, Birmingham, has roughly 288,000 Black residents (~43%). Birmingham's Smithfield, Titusville, and Ensley neighbourhoods were at the heart of the 1963 civil-rights campaign; today the city's Black population continues to cluster in the western and northern parts of the county. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is Alabama's only academic medical centre, its only level-I trauma centre, and the state's largest employer.

Alabama's non-adoption of Medicaid expansion means UAB Hospital and Cooper Green Mercy Health Services (the county's public hospital system) absorb a disproportionate share of uninsured Black inpatient admissions. The UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center is one of the NIH-designated Research Centers of Excellence in the Deep South.

Headline outcomes

Race-stratified county-level figures pulled from CDC WONDER small-area estimates, the annual County Health Rankings, and the CDC NVSS state/county life tables. County values with cell counts below CDC suppression thresholds are marked as data pending.

Life expectancy (Black)

72.80 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

13.90

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

391.20

Age-adjusted per 100k, CDC WONDER I00-I99

County Health Rankings

#40

Overall rank in Alabama (lower = better)

HRSA Medically Underserved Area / Population HPSA: Primary Care

Policy context in Jefferson

Alabama has not adopted Medicaid expansion. Low-income Black adults in this county without dependent children and without employer coverage typically fall into the coverage gap — uninsured by default. Medicaid does not cover doula services in this state. Postpartum Medicaid coverage extends for 12 months after delivery — the federal recommended standard, in place here.

Where to get help in Jefferson

Find Black health providers & resources in Jefferson

Black clinicians in Jefferson

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across Alabama

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

Alabama state profile

Statewide context, Medicaid policy, all 10 health facets

References & primary sources

  1. Demographics: US Census ACS 5-year 2019–2023, Tables B03002 (race), B01003 (total population), S1903 (median income), B27010B (uninsured by race).
  2. Mortality and life expectancy: CDC WONDER county-level Multiple Cause of Death and Underlying Cause of Death, pooled 2020–2022; CDC NVSS Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates, 2016–2020 release.
  3. County Health Rankings: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2024 release.
  4. HRSA shortage-area designations: HRSA HPSA Find and MUA/P Find, current as of 2025.
  5. Rural-Urban Continuum Codes: USDA Economic Research Service, 2023 release.

Data refreshed:

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