Care access · Health need meeting barriers to care

Health need and barriers to care in Alabama

Some Alabama ZIP codes carry two things at once: an elevated documented burden of health need, and real barriers to reaching care. This page is scoped to Alabama.

AlabamaData release 2026Documented inputs

Across parts of Alabama, the same ZIP codes show elevated health need and limited access to care together. Here is what each of those two axes measures — and how we read the overlap without ever claiming one causes the other.

How we measure this →

Health needSix measuresZCTA-native

The need axis reads six measures of health need for each ZIP code: how many people lack insurance, live in poverty, or face food or housing insecurity, alongside the share reporting fair-or-poor health and the local burden of chronic conditions. A ZIP reads high-need when several of these are elevated at once.

Barriers to reaching careSix measuresDistance + supply

The access axis reads six barriers to reaching care: distance to the nearest emergency room and to the nearest community health center, how thin the local supply of physicians and pharmacies is, how many households have no vehicle, and how limited home internet is for telehealth. A ZIP reads low-access when several of these barriers stack up.

What this is — and isn't. These are two things established for the same place: an elevated burden of health need, and barriers to reaching care. This page does not claim one causes the other, does not say anyone is underserved because of their health, does not combine the two into a single risk number, and does not rank areas by how "bad" the overlap is. It reports where both are elevated together, measured against ZIP codes across the country, and nothing more.

Alabama ZIP codes where need and access overlap

The ZIP codes (ZCTAs) in Alabama where documented health need and barriers to reaching care are both elevated. Each one sits in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each — the comparison is national, and this list is Alabama only. Each is tagged by how pronounced the overlap is — see the two labels below.

Severe care-access deficitelevated on both axes at the state's most pronounced levelAcute care-access deficitelevated on both axes, a step below severe

36738in DaytonSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36736in Dixons MillsSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36740in ForklandSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36540in GainestownSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36912in LismanSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36761in MinterSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36765in NewbernSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36775in SardisSevere care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes across a broader set of measures on both axes.
36425in BeatriceAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
35443in BoligeeAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36728in CatherineAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36435in CoyAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36029in FitzpatrickAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36444in FranklinAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36748in LindenAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36550in Little RiverAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36751in Lower Peach TreeAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36915in NeedhamAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
35477in PanolaAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36916in PenningtonAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36768in Pine AppleAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
35481in ReformAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36475in ReptonAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36776in SawyervilleAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36783in ThomastonAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36088in TuskegeeAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36786in UniontownAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.
36482in WhatleyAcute care-access deficit
Documented health need here overlaps with barriers to reaching care, sitting in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each.

Coverage & how to read this

Read from public data, area by area — not a statement about any individual. A ZIP appears here only when enough of the underlying measures are observable to compute both axes; where too many are missing, its overlap is shown as not computed — limited data, never as "no deficit." A ZIP that is measured and simply does not carry the overlap is not listed either — absence from this list is never a claim that a place is fine. The comparison is national — a ZIP appears when it sits in the most-affected 10% of US ZIP codes on several measures of each axis — and this list is Alabama only. Read the full methodology →

Each ZIP links to its full ZipVitals page. Alabama only — the national list is on the explainer page.