Staying healthy in the U.S. continues to grow more expensive with each passing year. Over the past five years alone, medical care costs have jumped nearly 12 percent, squeezing household budgets across the country. But where you live plays a bigger role than most people realize.
A recent analysis from WalletHub looked at 100 of the largest U.S. cities and compared what residents pay for basic healthcare, including routine medical visits and common medications, against what they earn. Detroit, Cleveland, and Newark are the biggest spenders while Irvine, Fremont, and Gilbert land in the bottom three.
“As healthcare gets increasingly more expensive, more and more people find themselves struggling to afford essential services and medicines,” says WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “While some cities have lower prices than others, the average income in many places still may not be enough to keep up with the costs, especially when consumers have also faced inflated prices across all other facets of their budgets over the past few years.”
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Cities Where People Spend the Most on Healthcare
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit sits at the top of the list with the second lowest average income in the country. It can be quite expensive for certain healthcare services and products, like standard visits to the doctor, but fairly affordable for others, like the optomotrist. For Detroit residents, basic medical care takes up more than 13 percent of monthly household income, which the highest share nationwide.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland residents spend the second highest share of income on healthcare at 11.4 percent, and the city has the lowest median household income among major U.S. cities. Common over-the-counter and prescription drugs cost more than average. Routine medical visits are more affordable, however.
Newark, New Jersey
In Newark, residents face a double whammy with lower income and higher prices for certain medical services. Doctor and dentist visits rank among the more expensive in the country, pushing costs higher across the board. That said, Newark is notably the fifth-cheapest city for purchasing insulin glargine. Still, residents end up spending more than 11 percent of what they earn just to cover basic health needs.
Cities Where People Spend the Least on Healthcare
At the other end of the spectrum are cities where higher incomes make the same healthcare costs far easier to manage. This includes places like Gilbert, Arizona, Fremont, California, and Irvine, California. This isn’t because medical services are cheaper, but rather because household earnings are high enough that healthcare takes up a much smaller share of monthly income.
“People in Detroit spend the most on health care, with essential medical visits and medicine costing an average of 13.2 percent of the median monthly household income, the highest percentage in the country,” Lupo says. “For comparison, residents of Gilbert, AZ, only spend around 3.5 percent of their income for the same services and medicines, the lowest percentage.”
The data highlights the growing gap between earnings and essential expenses, like healthcare. In cities with lower incomes, even reasonable medical prices can feel overwhelming. As healthcare costs continue to rise, that gap is likely to widen.
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