The percent of Travis County residents under the age of 65 without health insurance was 12% in 2023, having decreased from 16% in 2019. After the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2010, the uninsured rate began to decline locally, in Texas, and nationwide.
* The US Census Bureau did not release 2020 ACS 1-Year Data. Without the data from the USCB, uninsured rates were not possible to determine.
In Travis County the uninsured rate is highest for Hispanics, with 20% of Hispanics under age 65 uninsured, followed by Black residents with 17% uninsured. A 2024 report from Central Health found that chronic condition diagnoses show disparities by race, ethnicity, and economic factors.
Travis County residents under age 65 who are low-income have an uninsured rate of 23.8% – more than twice rate for non-low income residents (9%), and almost double the overall rate (12%).
Children and the elderly are most likely to have health insurance coverage, thanks to programs such as Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare and Medicaid. Working age adults (age 18-64) have the highest uninsured rates.
This chart looks at Travis County adults between the ages of 18 and 64 and finds that, in 2023, 85% of those who earned an income of 4-times the poverty level had employer-based health insurance coverage, while 38% of those living below the poverty level had employer-based health insurance.
People with higher incomes are most likely to have employer-based health coverage. People earning lower incomes are less likely to receive this benefit.
The population without access to health insurance is not distributed evenly across Travis County. Most people who lack access to health insurance in Travis County live in the “Eastern Crescent” that surrounds the City of Austin urban core.
LOCAL EFFORTS
Learn about collaborative projects and initiatives aimed at addressing issues relating to access to health insurance by visiting this website.
