Public Health & Risk

Mississippi County Primary-Care Access & Health-Burden Scorecard

Name: Mississippi County Primary-Care Access & Health-Burden Scorecard
Creator: KYFEX

A county-level targeting index for Mississippi, fusing adult chronic-disease and social-risk prevalence (CDC PLACES) with federally designated primary-care provider shortages (HRSA). Ranks all 82 counties by combined need so a health department or rural-health office can see where high burden and thin provider supply overlap.

KYFEX·May 31, 2026

Key findings

1
81 of Mississippi's 82 counties (99%) fall within a federally designated primary-care Health Professional Shortage Area.
2
Adult diagnosed-diabetes prevalence ranges from 10.9% in Oktibbeha County to 25.2% in Sharkey County, a 14.3-point spread within a single state.
3
Holmes County carries the highest combined targeting-priority index (90.0/100), led by its provider shortage score.
4
The median county uninsured rate (adults 18-64) is 12.6%, and the median adult diabetes prevalence is 17.1%.

How it is built

A Health-Burden axis is built from CDC PLACES crude adult prevalence (diagnosed diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, fair or poor self-rated health, frequent physical distress). An Access & SDOH barriers axis combines uninsured (adults 18-64), lack of reliable transportation, food insecurity, housing insecurity, below poverty (acs), households without a vehicle (acs) (Census ACS measures join CDC PLACES here). Each measure is min-max normalized across the state's counties to 0-100, then averaged within its axis. A Provider-Shortage axis scales each county's worst designated primary-care HPSA score against the HRSA 0-26 severity scale. The combined Targeting-Priority Index is the equal-weighted mean of the three axes. PLACES values are model-based estimates with confidence intervals (carried per county), not direct counts. Scores are relative WITHIN Mississippi: a 100 marks the worst county in the state on that axis, not a national benchmark.

Health-burden axis

Diagnosed diabetesObesityHigh blood pressureCoronary heart diseaseFair or poor self-rated healthFrequent physical distress

Access & SDOH barriers axis

Uninsured (adults 18-64)Lack of reliable transportationFood insecurityHousing insecurityBelow poverty (ACS)Households without a vehicle (ACS)

Top 50 counties by targeting priority

Higher scores mean greater relative need within Mississippi. Showing the 50 highest-priority of 82 counties; the full ranking is below as CSV or JSON.

#	County	Priority	Burden	Access	Shortage	Diabetes	Uninsured	Top driver
1	Holmes	90.0	83.9	90.0	96.2	23.3%	15.6%	Provider shortage
2	Humphreys	86.7	97.3	78.2	84.6	24.7%	16.0%	Health burden
3	Sharkey	84.0	96.8	70.6	84.6	25.2%	15.2%	Health burden
4	Quitman	83.6	85.2	77.1	88.5	22.8%	15.4%	Provider shortage
5	Tunica	82.8	77.3	82.6	88.5	21.4%	16.1%	Provider shortage
6	Coahoma	82.2	73.7	80.5	92.3	21.8%	15.1%	Provider shortage
7	Jefferson	79.7	86.6	63.9	88.5	23.6%	15.0%	Provider shortage
8	Claiborne	77.2	66.0	69.5	96.2	20.4%	13.9%	Provider shortage
9	Washington	76.3	69.6	67.0	92.3	21.0%	14.4%	Provider shortage
10	Bolivar	75.9	67.8	63.6	96.2	20.5%	13.7%	Provider shortage
11	Yazoo	75.7	67.5	78.9	80.8	18.5%	18.6%	Provider shortage
12	Leflore	75.1	65.1	71.8	88.5	20.9%	14.6%	Provider shortage
13	Noxubee	72.8	72.1	61.6	84.6	21.2%	15.2%	Provider shortage
14	Issaquena	71.9	53.4	77.8	84.6	16.4%	21.3%	Provider shortage
15	Sunflower	70.2	64.9	68.9	76.9	19.3%	16.2%	Provider shortage
16	Tallahatchie	69.9	61.6	59.5	88.5	18.9%	15.8%	Provider shortage
17	Amite	69.3	72.8	39.0	96.2	20.6%	12.6%	Provider shortage
18	Jefferson Davis	67.5	74.5	47.1	80.8	21.8%	12.9%	Provider shortage
19	Wilkinson	65.5	69.5	57.8	69.2	20.6%	14.3%	Health burden
20	Pike	65.4	61.2	50.4	84.6	18.9%	13.5%	Provider shortage
21	Adams	63.9	64.5	54.2	73.1	20.6%	15.2%	Provider shortage
22	Winston	63.1	60.6	47.8	80.8	19.5%	13.1%	Provider shortage
23	Marshall	62.7	57.1	42.4	88.5	18.5%	14.2%	Provider shortage
24	Clay	62.4	63.2	47.1	76.9	19.1%	13.1%	Provider shortage
25	Panola	61.8	60.4	44.1	80.8	18.4%	13.2%	Provider shortage
26	Lauderdale	61.7	47.7	41.1	96.2	16.7%	12.0%	Provider shortage
27	Yalobusha	61.6	60.1	40.0	84.6	19.0%	13.2%	Provider shortage
28	Leake	61.2	51.4	39.9	92.3	17.0%	13.6%	Provider shortage
29	Scott	60.7	57.3	47.8	76.9	18.3%	16.5%	Provider shortage
30	Lawrence	60.2	66.9	40.7	73.1	18.8%	13.6%	Provider shortage
31	Wayne	60.2	57.2	38.9	84.6	17.8%	13.2%	Provider shortage
32	Copiah	59.3	51.8	41.5	84.6	18.2%	12.3%	Provider shortage
33	Kemper	59.0	55.8	40.3	80.8	18.4%	12.7%	Provider shortage
34	Clarke	58.9	52.9	31.6	92.3	17.8%	11.7%	Provider shortage
35	Montgomery	58.9	65.6	42.0	69.2	19.6%	12.8%	Provider shortage
36	Neshoba	58.6	50.4	40.9	84.6	16.5%	12.8%	Provider shortage
37	Franklin	58.5	58.4	32.6	84.6	18.5%	12.1%	Provider shortage
38	Chickasaw	58.4	57.5	48.4	69.2	18.4%	14.0%	Provider shortage
39	Grenada	57.8	54.6	38.0	80.8	17.6%	12.3%	Provider shortage
40	Walthall	57.6	57.1	35.0	80.8	17.8%	13.0%	Provider shortage
41	Calhoun	57.3	58.9	36.2	76.9	18.2%	14.0%	Provider shortage
42	Hinds	57.1	42.4	40.4	88.5	17.0%	11.1%	Provider shortage
43	Carroll	57.0	59.6	30.5	80.8	18.6%	13.0%	Provider shortage
44	Benton	55.1	52.9	31.6	80.8	17.4%	12.7%	Provider shortage
45	Smith	55.1	55.6	28.9	80.8	16.9%	12.5%	Provider shortage
46	Jones	54.2	42.9	27.5	92.3	16.0%	11.9%	Provider shortage
47	Marion	53.8	54.8	33.4	73.1	17.2%	12.8%	Provider shortage
48	Monroe	53.7	51.0	25.6	84.6	16.7%	11.7%	Provider shortage
49	Attala	53.7	50.1	34.1	76.9	16.9%	12.2%	Provider shortage
50	Jasper	52.0	59.5	38.7	57.7	19.0%	12.4%	Health burden

All 82 counties, ranked:CSV JSON

Limitations

Scores are intra-state relative, not absolute or cross-state comparable.
PLACES values are small-area model-based estimates with confidence intervals, not direct counts.
HPSA aggregation takes the worst designated primary-care score per county; geographic, population-group, and facility designations are pooled.
Equal axis weighting is a transparent default, not a calibrated policy model.
Socioeconomic measures are ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates; ACS estimates carry margins of error not reflected in the composite.
This is informational analysis of public data, not clinical, individual, or actuarial advice.

Sources

CDC PLACES — Local Data for Better Health (County Data)
PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data, 2025 release (measure year 2023) · accessed 2026-06-01
HRSA — Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas
Shortage Area HPSA detail (Primary Care discipline, designated) · accessed 2026-06-01
U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (5-year)
ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · accessed 2026-06-01

Frequently asked questions

What does the Mississippi county health-access scorecard measure?

It ranks all 82 Mississippi counties by a combined Targeting-Priority Index that fuses adult chronic-disease and social-risk prevalence from CDC PLACES with federally designated primary-care provider shortages from HRSA, highlighting where health need and thin provider supply overlap.

Which public datasets is it built from?

CDC PLACES county estimates (PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data, 2025 release, measure year 2023) and the HRSA Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Area detail file, both fully open federal sources accessed 2026-06-01.

How should the Targeting-Priority Index be used?

As a transparent first-pass screen for where to focus outreach, workforce, or program resources. Scores are relative within the state and equal-weighted by default; a real engagement would calibrate weights to a program's goals and add socioeconomic and utilization layers.