Skip to main content
Black Health logo Black Health
County profile Indiana Metropolitan HRSA MUA/P

Black health in Marion County, Indiana

262,000

Black residents (ACS)

26.83%

Of county population

$38,900

Median household income, Black

11.20%

Uninsured, Black residents

Marion County, Indianapolis, has roughly 262,000 Black residents (~28%). Indianapolis's near-north-side neighbourhoods, Crown Hill, Mapleton-Fall Creek, and the Martindale-Brightwood corridor, were the historical core of Black Indianapolis. Indiana University School of Medicine, the largest single-campus medical school in the country, anchors the county's academic medicine; the Eskenazi Health system (Marion County's public hospital system) is the principal safety-net anchor.

The Indiana State Department of Health's LifeSpan Initiative targets much of its home-visiting resources to Marion County ZIP codes with the widest Black–white infant mortality gaps; the county has among the highest Black infant mortality rates of any large Midwestern county.

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)

71.90 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

14.10

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

379.80

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

County Health Rankings

#85

Overall rank in Indiana (lower = better)

HRSA Medically Underserved Area / Population HPSA: Primary Care

Policy context in Marion

Indiana 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 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 Marion

Find Black health providers & resources in Marion

Black clinicians in Marion

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across Indiana

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

Indiana 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 Indiana counties on Black Health

Browse all Indiana county profiles