Care access · Health need meeting barriers to care

Health need and barriers to care in Texas

Some Texas 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 Texas.

TexasData release 2026Documented inputs

Across parts of Texas, 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.

Texas ZIP codes where need and access overlap

The ZIP codes (ZCTAs) in Texas 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 Texas 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

78827in AshertonSevere 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.
78829in BatesvilleSevere 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.
79312in AmherstAcute 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.
79718in BalmorheaAcute 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.
78341in BenavidesAcute 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.
78830in Big WellsAcute 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.
78343in BishopAcute 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.
75928in Bon WierAcute 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.
79013in CactusAcute 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.
78407in Corpus ChristiAcute 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.
79730in CoyanosaAcute 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.
78536in DelmitaAcute 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.
79031in EarthAcute 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.
79233in EstellineAcute 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.
79839in Fort HancockAcute 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.
77442in GarwoodAcute 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.
78549in HargillAcute 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.
79043in HartAcute 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.
77624in HillisterAcute 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.
77451in KendletonAcute 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.
78548in La GrullaAcute 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.
78872in La PryorAcute 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.
78562in La VillaAcute 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.
79239in LakeviewAcute 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.
78561in LasaraAcute 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.
75566in MariettaAcute 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.
79752in McCameyAcute 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.
78369in Mirando CityAcute 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.
78370in OdemAcute 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.
79248in PaducahAcute 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.
78877in QuemadoAcute 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.
76945in Robert LeeAcute 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.
79547in RuleAcute 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.
78151in RungeAcute 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.
78203in San AntonioAcute 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.
78067in San YgnacioAcute 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.
78592in Santa MariaAcute 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.
79780in SaragosaAcute 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.
79855in Van HornAcute 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.
76704in WacoAcute 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.
78075in WhitsettAcute 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.
75977in WiergateAcute 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 Texas only. Read the full methodology →

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