Certain states have an especially high share of the population living in some kind of healthcare-desert county:
� Wyoming: 87 %
� Vermont: 74 %
� Montana: 70 %
� New Mexico: 60 %
� Alaska: 56 %
Healthcare Deserts, County by County
Specific counties across the U. S. also face widespread healthcare deserts. In New Mexico’ s Catron County, over 3,500 residents face healthcare deserts in all services, from getting their prescription from the pharmacy to accessing primary and emergency care. It’ s the same for the 11,000 residents of Duval County, Texas, and nearly 2,500 residents of Hettinger County, North Dakota. In these regions, accessing any kind of healthcare comes at an increased time and cost.
Who is most affected by healthcare deserts?
Healthcare access goes beyond having the requisite physical infrastructure. People may have difficulty actually using existing healthcare infrastructure because of personal or financial barriers. As a result, health disparities may persist even in places that aren’ t considered“ healthcare deserts,” simply because some groups still struggle to access the resources that are available.
The chart below shows the three factors that are more common in states with a higher number of healthcare deserts:
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Lack of health insurance Low household income Poor internet access
In all of these cases, residents in states with more barriers and more healthcare deserts will have an even harder time accessing the care they need.
These trends have persisted since 2021. States with more healthcare deserts also tend to have larger uninsured populations, lower household incomes, and less broadband internet access. These financial obstacles, coupled with