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County profile Illinois Metropolitan HRSA MUA/P

Black health in Cook County, Illinois

1,220,000

Black residents (ACS)

23.54%

Of county population

$44,500

Median household income, Black

8.40%

Uninsured, Black residents

Cook County is home to ~1.22 million Black residents, the third-largest Black population of any US county. Chicago's South and West Sides have among the steepest life-expectancy gradients in the United States: residents of Streeterville live to roughly 90, while residents of Englewood, nine miles south, reach the low 60s. The Cook County Department of Public Health and the City of Chicago Department of Public Health both publish the Healthy Chicago Equity Zones dashboard quantifying these gaps by community area.

The University of Chicago Medicine's level-I trauma centre, opened in 2018 after a multi-decade community organising campaign, is the first adult trauma care on Chicago's South Side since the 1980s. Stroger Hospital (Cook County Health) is the country's oldest public hospital system and operates the county's HIV/AIDS clinic, one of the largest in the Midwest.

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)

72.10 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

11.80

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

389.70

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

County Health Rankings

#58

Overall rank in Illinois (lower = better)

HRSA Medically Underserved Area / Population HPSA: Primary Care HPSA: Mental Health

Policy context in Cook

Illinois has adopted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which gives low-income Black adults in this county a direct pathway to primary-care and prescription coverage. Medicaid in this state covers doula services. Postpartum Medicaid coverage extends for 12 months after delivery — the federal recommended standard, in place here.

Where to get help in Cook

Find Black health providers & resources in Cook

Black clinicians in Cook

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across Illinois

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

Illinois 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:

More Illinois counties on Black Health

Browse all Illinois county profiles