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Nearly one in five North Carolinians under the age of 65 did not have health insurance in 2010, according to estimates released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
At 19.1 percent, the rate of uninsured residents in the state was at the highest point in five years and was higher than in all but 16 states. Massachusetts had the lowest rate of uninsured at 5.2 percent; Texas was highest at 26.3 percent.
Minorities and the poor were more likely to be uninsured in the state, according to the Census Bureau estimates.
Nearly a third of residents under 65 in families that made less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level lacked health insurance. The uninsured rate among whites was 14.8 percent, compared to 21.2 percent for blacks and 42.2 percent for Hispanics.
Wake County had the lowest percentage of uninsured residents, at 15.5 percent, followed by Camden and Onslow counties at 16 percent and Orange County at 16.4 percent.
The highest estimated uninsured rate was in Alleghany County, at 30.1 percent.
Staff writer Richard Stradling
