How the Health Score Works
We score every ZIP code in America from 0 to 100 based on how easy it is to access healthcare. Here's exactly how -- no PhD required.
Every ZIP tells a story
The Short Version
We ask one question: "How good is healthcare access where you live?"
To answer it, we look at 8 types of healthcare (from family doctors to emergency rooms to mental health), measure how many providers exist near each ZIP code, factor in how many people are competing for those providers, and then adjust for real-world barriers like poverty, lack of transportation, and no insurance.
The result is a score from 0 (healthcare desert) to 100 (healthcare paradise). We do this for all 33,000 populated ZIP codes using 21 free government data sources, updated automatically.
The Big Idea
Most people think healthcare access means "Is there a hospital nearby?" But that's only part of the story. True access depends on three things:
Supply
How many doctors, hospitals, and facilities are near you?
Demand
How many other people are also trying to see those providers?
Barriers
Can residents actually GET to those providers? (Transport, cost, insurance)
The Pizza Shop Analogy
Imagine a pizza shop 10 minutes from your house. Sounds great, right?
But what if 100,000 other people also live 10 minutes away, there's only one oven, you don't have a car, and you can't afford the delivery fee? That "accessible" pizza shop isn't so accessible anymore.
Our Health Score captures all of that -- supply, demand, and barriers -- for healthcare instead of pizza. It's the difference between "there's a doctor nearby" and "you can actually see a doctor."
The Score at a Glance
Here's the full pipeline -- from raw government data to your final score. Every step is automated, transparent, and reproducible.
Excellent Access
Log-softcap normalized -- preserves full rank ordering
r > 0.65
CDC PLACES
r > 0.70
County Health Rankings
> 70%
HRSA HPSA match
Simplified View
The 8 Things We Measure
Each ZIP code is evaluated across 8 dimensions of healthcare access. Each dimension gets a weight based on how important it is to overall health. Click any component to learn more.
Primary Care25%Can you see a regular doctor when you need one?
Can you see a regular doctor when you need one?
We measure how many family doctors, internists, and general practitioners are within a reasonable drive of your ZIP code -- and how many other people are competing for their time. A town with 2 doctors and 50,000 residents scores lower than a town with 2 doctors and 5,000 residents.
Real-world example: Think of it like a restaurant. Even if there's one nearby, if it has a 3-hour wait every night, it's not really 'accessible.'
Emergency & Trauma20%How fast can you get emergency help?
How fast can you get emergency help?
This measures how close you are to emergency rooms and trauma centers. Every minute counts in an emergency -- research shows that living more than 30 minutes from a trauma center significantly increases the risk of death from serious injuries.
Real-world example: If you have a heart attack, the difference between a 5-minute and 45-minute ambulance ride can be the difference between life and death.
Hospital Quality15%Are the hospitals near you any good?
Are the hospitals near you any good?
It's not enough to just have a hospital nearby. We factor in CMS star ratings (the government's quality grades), the number of beds available, and whether the hospital provides specialty services like surgery, maternity, or cardiac care.
Real-world example: Imagine two ZIP codes both 10 minutes from a hospital. But one hospital has a 5-star rating and the other has 2 stars. The first ZIP gets a higher score.
Specialist Access15%Can you see a specialist without waiting months?
Can you see a specialist without waiting months?
Cardiologists, dermatologists, oncologists, orthopedic surgeons -- when you need a specialist, how far do you have to travel? We measure the breadth (how many different specialties are available) and depth (how many of each type) in your area.
Real-world example: In some rural areas, the nearest cardiologist is 2+ hours away. That means a simple follow-up appointment becomes an all-day trip.
Mental Health10%Can you find a therapist or psychiatrist?
Can you find a therapist or psychiatrist?
Mental healthcare is in crisis across America. We measure access to psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed counselors, and substance abuse treatment centers. Over 150 million Americans live in a designated mental health shortage area. (Source: HRSA, 2024)
Real-world example: In many counties, there isn't a single psychiatrist. People drive 100+ miles or wait 6 months for an appointment.
Preventive Care10%Can you get screenings and checkups before something goes wrong?
Can you get screenings and checkups before something goes wrong?
Mammography centers, colonoscopy providers, immunization sites, annual wellness visits. Preventive care catches diseases early when they're most treatable. We measure whether these services exist within reasonable distance.
Real-world example: Finding breast cancer at stage 1 vs stage 4 can mean the difference between a ~99% and ~29% five-year survival rate (Source: American Cancer Society). But you need a mammography center nearby to get screened.
Dental Access5%Can you find a dentist?
Can you find a dentist?
Oral health is directly linked to overall health. Untreated dental problems can lead to heart disease, diabetes complications, and infections. Yet dental care is one of the most commonly skipped types of healthcare in America due to access barriers.
Real-world example: Tens of millions of Americans live in dental health shortage areas where there aren't enough dentists to serve the population. (Source: HRSA Dental HPSA designations)
TelehealthModifierCan providers in your area do video visits?
Can providers in your area do video visits?
Telehealth doesn't add points on its own -- instead, it reduces the 'distance penalty' for providers who offer it. A psychiatrist 100 miles away who does video visits is more accessible than one who doesn't. But telehealth can't replace an ER or a surgery center, so it only modifies certain components.
Real-world example: It's like a bonus that makes far-away doctors partially accessible -- but only for visit types that can actually be done remotely.
How the weights break down
How the Math Works
We use a method called E2SFCA (Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area). Here's the simple version:
Count the providers around each ZIP code
For each of the 8 healthcare categories, we draw a circle around every ZIP code and count the providers inside it. But we don't treat them all equally:
- Closer providers count more than farther ones (distance decay)
- The circle size changes based on urban vs rural (rural circles are bigger because people expect to drive farther)
- Different healthcare types use different decay curves (emergency care drops off sharply with distance; dental doesn't)
Factor in the competition
Here's the key insight: a doctor who serves 50,000 patients is less accessible than one who serves 5,000. So we divide each provider's capacity by the total population competing for their time. This gives us a provider-to-population ratio that reflects real-world availability, not just presence on a map.
Apply the weights and combine
We multiply each component by its weight (primary care = 25%, emergency = 20%, etc.) and add them up. This gives us the Base Access Score -- a pure measurement of healthcare supply and demand.
Adjust for real-world barriers (SDOH Penalty)
Having a hospital nearby doesn't help if you can't afford the copay, don't have a car, or don't have insurance. We apply a penalty based on 6 social factors (see below). This can reduce the score by up to 65% in severely disadvantaged areas. Importantly, good social factors cannot inflate a score -- they can only prevent a penalty. You can't create doctors that don't exist.
Normalize to 0-100
Finally, we scale everything to a 0-100 range so scores are easy to understand and compare. We use a special technique called log-softcap normalization that preserves the ranking of every ZIP code while keeping the top 5% from bunching up at 100.
Try It Yourself
InteractiveDrag the weight sliders to see how changing priorities affects the score. Pick different locations to see how geography and social factors interact.
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The Reality Check: Social Barriers
Healthcare access isn't just about geography. These 6 social factors can make a nearby hospital effectively unreachable:
What percentage of residents have health insurance? Uninsured people delay care even when providers exist.
Poverty rate, median income. Even with insurance, copays and deductibles can be barriers.
Do residents have cars? Is there public transit? If you can't get to the doctor, access is zero.
Education levels affect whether people know how to navigate the healthcare system and understand health information.
Disability rates in the area. Disabled residents face additional physical and logistical barriers to care.
Areas with more elderly residents have higher healthcare demand, stretching available resources thinner.
Why "penalty only"? The SDOH modifier can only reduce a score (range: 0.35 to 1.05). A wealthy area with great insurance and cars can't score 90 if there are only 2 doctors for 100,000 people. Good social factors remove barriers -- they don't create providers. This is a deliberate design choice to prevent misleading scores.
What the Scores Mean
Every score comes with a human-readable label so you instantly know what it means:
Multiple providers in every category within short distance. Top-tier hospitals. Full specialist coverage.
Most healthcare needs met locally. Some specialists may require a short drive.
Basic care available but gaps exist. Some services require significant travel.
Significant gaps in healthcare availability. Many services require long drives.
Severe shortage of healthcare services. Residents face major barriers to basic care.
Where the Data Comes From
Every data point comes from free, public government sources. No paid data, no private databases, no guessing. All 21 sources are updated automatically.
| Source | What It Provides |
|---|---|
| CMS NPPES | 4 million+ doctor profiles |
| CMS Hospital Compare | Hospital quality ratings |
| CMS Care Compare | Nursing homes, dialysis centers |
| SAMHSA Locator | Mental health & substance abuse facilities |
| Census ACS 5-Year | Demographics, income, insurance, disability |
| Census TIGER | ZIP code map boundaries |
| CDC PLACES | Community health measures (validation) |
| HRSA HPSA | Official shortage area designations |
| USDA RUCA Codes | Urban vs rural classification |
| FCC Broadband | Internet availability for telehealth |
| FDA MQSA | Certified mammography facilities |
| CMS POS | Hospital master list with details |
Plus 9 additional sources for validation, calibration, and geographic reference data.See full registry
How We Know It's Accurate
A score is only useful if it reflects reality. We validate our scores against three independent benchmarks:
r > 0.65
CDC PLACES
Correlation with community health utilization measures (checkups, screenings, ER visits)
r > 0.70
County Health Rankings
Correlation with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation county health data
> 70%
HRSA HPSA
Concordance with federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas
Translation: when we say an area is a "Healthcare Desert," at least 70% of the time the federal government has also designated it as a shortage area. And ZIP codes we score highly tend to have measurably better health outcomes in the CDC data.
Academic Foundation
Our methodology is built on peer-reviewed research. The E2SFCA method has been cited over 2,000 times in academic literature since its publication.
Core method: Luo, W., & Qi, Y. (2009). "An enhanced two-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA) method for measuring spatial accessibility to primary care physicians." Health & Place, 15(4), 1100-1107.
SDOH framework: Syed, S. T., Gerber, B. S., & Sharp, L. K. (2013). "Traveling towards disease: transportation barriers to health care access." Journal of Community Health, 38(5), 976-993.
Rural adaptations: McGrail, M. R. (2012). "Spatial accessibility of primary health care utilising the two step floating catchment area method." Applied Geography, 32(2), 309-320.
Our full formula specification cites 36 academic papers. The complete bibliography is available in our technical documentation.
See your ZIP code's score
Now that you know how the score works, find out what healthcare access looks like where you live.
Search your ZIP code