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County profile North Carolina Metropolitan

Black health in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

355,000

Black residents (ACS)

31.33%

Of county population

$52,100

Median household income, Black

9.80%

Uninsured, Black residents

Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, has roughly 355,000 Black residents (~32%). Atrium Health (Advocate Health after the 2022 merger) and Novant Health are the two principal hospital systems, serving a Black population that has roughly doubled since 2000. Charlotte's historically-Black neighbourhoods, Wesley Heights, Washington Heights, Beatties Ford Road corridor, remain the core of the city's Black middle class and the focus of the Mecklenburg County Community Relations Department's housing and health-equity work.

North Carolina's December 2023 adoption of Medicaid expansion has measurably reduced the county's Black uninsured rate; early 2025 county reports show roughly 48,000 Mecklenburg adults newly enrolled, a disproportionate share of them Black.

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)

75.60 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

11.40

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

349.70

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

County Health Rankings

#30

Overall rank in North Carolina (lower = better)

Policy context in Mecklenburg

North Carolina 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 Mecklenburg

Find Black health providers & resources in Mecklenburg

Black clinicians in Mecklenburg

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across North Carolina

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

North Carolina 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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