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County profile Pennsylvania Metropolitan HRSA MUA/P

Black health in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

644,000

Black residents (ACS)

41.07%

Of county population

$38,900

Median household income, Black

8.20%

Uninsured, Black residents

Philadelphia is a ~43% Black county-city of roughly 644,000 Black residents and has among the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths among Black men of any large US county. The city's Kensington neighbourhood has attracted national media attention for its open-air overdose crisis; the city's Department of Public Health publishes Philadelphia-specific overdose data stratified by ZIP and race quarterly.

Temple University Hospital (North Philadelphia) and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital anchor the clinical care of the city's uninsured Black residents. Mercy Catholic Medical Center (Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic) and Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia serve the north-west and north-east portions of the city. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health runs one of the oldest Maternal Mortality Review Committees in the country.

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)

72.00 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

12.10

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

382.90

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

County Health Rankings

#67

Overall rank in Pennsylvania (lower = better)

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

Policy context in Philadelphia

Pennsylvania 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 Philadelphia

Find Black health providers & resources in Philadelphia

Black clinicians in Philadelphia

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across Pennsylvania

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

Pennsylvania 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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