In this article, we discuss the 20 American cities with the lowest uninsured rates. To skip the details about the causes of uninsured rates and state-wise costs of healthcare in the US, go directly to 5 American Cities With the Lowest Uninsured Rates.
In a previous article, we covered the top 20 American cities that have the highest rates of uninsured individuals. In this article, our focus shifts to discussing the cities with the lowest rates of uninsured residents. Before diving into that, let's briefly review the key points we discussed earlier.
We mentioned that in 2020, 8.3% of the American civilian noninstitutionalized population was uninsured in 2021. Among the children under 19 years of age, 5.0% of the population was uninsured while among the adults between the ages of 19 and 64, 11.6% of the civilian noninstitutionalized population was uninsured. We also discussed that the top reasons for uninsured rates were unaffordability and ineligibility. Texas was the state with the highest number of uninsured people at 20.5% while Massachusetts was the state with the lowest population of uninsured people at 2.9%.
State-wise Health Costs
According to a Forbes report, South Dakota is the state with the most expensive healthcare costs, followed by Louisiana. The average healthcare cost per person in South Dakota is around $11,736 and $9,796 in Louisiana. Both of these states also pay some of the highest health insurance premiums in the country. Contrary to that, the lowest per-person healthcare spending was seen in New Mexico, while Washington and Michigan were the states with the lowest overall healthcare costs. Both of the latter states also had some of the lowest 5-year increases in healthcare spending per person with Michigan at 13.67% and Washington having a 5-year increase of 14.43%.
Healthcare for Veterans and In-service Population
As our articles discuss the percentage of the uninsured civilian noninstitutionalized population, let us discuss the health care coverage in the military population as well.The Department of Defense, along with the TRICARE program and the Department of Veterans Affairs, ensures that healthcare coverage is provided to the active-duty military personnel, their dependents, and veterans. According to a report by the Federation of American Scientists, 2.7% of the US population was covered by TRICARE, and 2.2% of the population had VA Care, both of which accounted for $150 billion in expenditures.
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed in 2010 by former President, Barack Obama. The ACA’s main purpose was to make healthcare more affordable to a wider population in the United States. The act provides premium tax credits for consumers whose incomes fall between 100% to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. For 2023, the Federal Poverty Level numbers lie at $14,580 per individual, $19,720 for a family of two and further adding $5,140 for each extra family member. The ACA also barred insurers from denying coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions and ending coverage if the individual policyholder falls ill.
Apart from the ACA, the Inflation Reduction Act signed in August 2022 also put forth provisions that will benefit the insured population. According to the act, the out-of-pocket prescription drug costs are capped at $2,000 annually for Medicare beneficiaries.
Health Care Spending in the US
Due to the high healthcare costs in the United States, it is estimated that the country’s annual healthcare spending is around $3 trillion per annum. Some of the reasons include the high costs of prescription drugs, the aging population, unhealthy lifestyles, and high expenditure on chronic diseases. Prescription drugs alone are expected to rise in price by 136% between 2010 and 2025. The average annual income of physicians and surgeons is another factor that drives up healthcare costs in the US. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual median pay for physicians and surgeons in the US was $208,000 or $100 per hour. We also discussed some other factors for high healthcare costs in our article about the American cities with the highest uninsured rates.
The rising healthcare costs benefit some health insurance stocks such as UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV), The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI), and Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) over the long term. The stock prices of health insurance companies were under pressure earlier this year, however, if you take a look at the 5-10 year price charts of United Health (UNH) and Elevance Health (ELV) you will see that these stocks outperformed the market by a large margin. We believe this trend is likely to continue as there aren't any structural changes happening in the US health care markets.
20 American Cities With the Lowest Uninsured Rates
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Our Methodology
For this article, we collected the latest data (2021) from the US Census Bureau and listed the cities in descending order of their uninsured rate percentage of each city’s civilian noninstitutionalized population (the population that is 16 and over and is not serving in the armed forces or is not incarcerated by any prison system). To stay true to the data, we only chose cities for our list and did not use the data for metropolitan areas or census-designated places. Note that, the data provided does not include the population that lost their health insurance coverage during the calendar year, which means that if an individual was insured at any point in the year, that individual was considered a part of the insured population.
20. Livonia, Michigan
Uninsured Population: 2.4%
Livonia was incorporated as a city in 1950 and experienced the biggest surge in population between 1950-1960. The city’s population went from slightly over 17,600 in 1950 to 66,700 in 1960 according to the US Decennial Census estimates. Around 2.4% of Livonia’s civilian noninstitutionalized population was uninsured in 2021 as per the US Census Bureau’s data which makes it number 20 on our list of American cities with the lowest uninsured rates.
19. Maple Grove, Minnesota
Uninsured Population: 2.4%
Maple Grove is located in Hennepin County which also consists of Minnetonka City where the world’s largest health insurance company, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is headquartered. In Maple Grove, approximately 2.4% of the noninstitutionalized civilian population is uninsured.
18. Eastvale, California
Uninsured Population: 2.3%
Eastvale was originally a dairy farm enclave and was incorporated as a city in 2010. The city had a population of approximately 71,400. The US Census Bureau estimates that around 97.7% of Eastvale’s civilian noninstitutionalized population has healthcare coverage with a margin of error of 1.2%.
17. Daphne, Alabama
Uninsured Population: 2.3%
Daphne is located in Baldwin County. It was a meeting place for several Native American tribes to discuss their relationships and other matters. According to the Census Bureau, around 2.3% of Daphne’s civilian noninstitutionalized population were uninsured in 2021.
16. Rocklin, California
Uninsured Population: 2.2%
Close to 73,000 people lived in Rocklin, California in 2021. An estimated 2.2% of the city’s noninstitutionalized civilian population remained uninsured in 2021, making it an American city with one of the lowest uninsured rates.
15. Santa Clara, California
Uninsured Population: 2.2%
Santa Clara is one of the most populous areas of the Bay Area. The online health insurance marketplace, eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ:EHTH) is also based in Santa Clara. The company provides a platform to purchase health insurance from almost every health insurance carrier in the United States. Around 97.8% of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the city has health insurance coverage. The margin of error according to the US Census Bureau is 0.9%.
14. Woodbury, Minnesota
Uninsured Population: 2.2%
Woodbury falls in Washington County. The estimated civilian noninstitutionalized population with health insurance coverage in the city is 97.8% with a 1.4% margin of error. HealthPartners, Inc., a healthcare company that also provides health insurance coverage was the sixth largest employer in the city according to Woodbury’s Community Development 2021 Annual Report.
13. Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Uninsured Population: 2.2%
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States and Mayagüez is its eighth-largest city and municipality. The civilian noninstitutionalized population without health coverage in the city is estimated to be around 2.2%.
12. Elk Grove, California
Uninsured Population: 2%
Elk Grove was discovered in 1808 by the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga and was incorporated as a city in July 2000. The Census Bureau estimates that 2% of the city’s civilian noninstitutionalized population is uninsured.
11. Lakeville, Minnesota
Uninsured Population: 2%
Lakeville is the largest city in Dakota County and is estimated to be the 10th most populous city in Minnesota. Around 98% of the city’s civilian noninstitutionalized population has health insurance coverage and the Census Bureau allowed a margin of error of 1% in the data.
10. Roseville, California
Uninsured Population: 1.9%
Roseville is a part of Placer County and is its most populous area. Close to 152,000 people lived in Roseville in 2021. The Census Board estimates that around 1.9% of the city’s civilian noninstitutionalized population was uninsured.
9. Redmond, Washington
Uninsured Population: 1.9%
Tied up with Roseville is the home to Microsoft Campus, Redmond Washington. The Census Board data shows that 98.1% of Redmond’s noninstitutionalized population has health insurance coverage. The Board allows a margin of error of 1% in the city’s health insurance coverage data.
8. Fremont, California
Uninsured Population: 1.8%
Fremont is quite a prosperous city in the United States with an average household income of $153,475 in 2021. Around 98.2% of the city’s civilian noninstitutionalized population had health insurance coverage in 2021 with a 0.5% margin of error in the collected data.
7. Milpitas, California
Uninsured Population: 1.7%
Milpitas is a Silicon Valley city and home to several tech companies. The city was incorporated in 1954 and had a population of over 79,000 in 2021. An estimated 98.3% of its civilian noninstitutionalized population had health coverage with a margin of error of 0.7%.
6. Mountain View, California
Uninsured Population: 1.7%
Mountain View is another Silicon Valley city on our list and is also the home of Googleplex. It is tied up with Milpitas on our list of American cities with the lowest uninsured rates with only 1.7% of the civilian noninstitutionalized population lacking health insurance coverage. However, the Census Board allowed a margin of error of 0.9% in the city’s data which is minutely above Milpitas.
