Critical factors in health and wellbeing include access to health care, preventative care and lifestyle. While health insurance is widespread in Worcester County, as it is throughout the Massachusetts, the county has racial and ethnic disparities in prenatal care and infant mortality rates, relatively high rates of diabetes, and ongoing substance abuse challenges.

Just 3% of Worcester County residents under 65 in 2021 lacked health insurance, similar to the state and far below the national rate of 10%.

Rates of early prenatal care were lower among Black and African American births in Worcester County (76%) compared to Hispanic and Latino (82%), White (87%) and Asian (88%) births. Additionally, infant mortality was highest among Black and African Americans, with 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019-21. Rates for Whites and Latinos were half the African American rate, with 3.3 and 3.0 deaths per live births, respectively.

Worcester County had a high rate of newly identified cases of diabetes with 72 per 10,000 residents in 2019. This was notably higher than the state rate of 53 and the national rate of 56 per 10,000 residents. Rates from 2011 to 2020 have declined at a much slower rate in Worcester County (down 4%) compared to the state decrease of 18% and national decrease of 23%.

Substance abuse in Worcester County remains a concern. Worcester County’s opioid overdose mortality rate of 38 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2022 was the highest it had been since 2007 and was slightly higher than the statewide rate of 34.

Heroin and other opioids were the most common primary drug of use for admissions to treatment among Worcester County residents in 2022, making up 42% of all admissions. Alcohol was the next most common primary drug, making up 38% of admissions. This was similar to the state.

Admissions to treatment have declined to 131 admissions per 10,000 residents in 2022, down 32% from a high of 194 per 10,000 in 2018, similar to the statewide decline of 30% in the same time period.

In other areas of behavioral health and general health, Worcester County remained fairly steady or mirrored other areas:

• Preterm births remained steady at 10% of all live births in 2021, similar to the state.
• Reported lead exposure in young children, which can cause cognitive declines, has declined 50% since 2010.
• About 12% of school-age children had asthma in 2018, similar to the state and essentially unchanged since 2010.
• 13% of Worcester County’s population had a disability, similar to the state and nation.
• The rate of new cancer diagnoses was 47 per 10,000 in 2016-20, similar to the state rate of 45.