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County profile Massachusetts Metropolitan

Black health in Suffolk County, Massachusetts

155,000

Black residents (ACS)

19.65%

Of county population

$48,200

Median household income, Black

4.50%

Uninsured, Black residents

Suffolk County, Boston plus Chelsea and Revere, has roughly 155,000 Black residents (~20%). Boston's Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan neighbourhoods are the historical core of the city's Black population. Boston Medical Center (the city's safety-net hospital, formerly Boston City Hospital) is one of the country's largest Medicaid providers; Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital (both Mass General Brigham) anchor the academic medicine.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Pregnancy to Early Life Longitudinal (PELL) data resource, one of the country's richest race-stratified perinatal datasets, is housed at Boston University School of Public Health. Codman Square Health Center (Dorchester) is one of the country's oldest community health centres, founded in 1979.

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)

77.50 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

9.30

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

305.60

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

County Health Rankings

#6

Overall rank in Massachusetts (lower = better)

Policy context in Suffolk

Massachusetts 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 Suffolk

Find Black health providers & resources in Suffolk

Black clinicians in Suffolk

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across Massachusetts

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

Massachusetts 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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