Nearly 1 in 5 Americans visited a retail urgent care health clinic in 2024

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans visited a retail health clinic in 2024, with significant geographic disparities in both retail clinic and urgent care use, according to a new federal report.

The data, released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), show that 19% of people visited a retail health clinic and 27.6% visited an urgent care center in the past year. The findings highlight a healthcare landscape in which access to convenient care options varies considerably depending on where patients live.

The report, authored by Robin A. Cohen and Elizabeth M. Briones of the NCHS Division of Health Interview Statistics, draws on data from the 2024 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative household survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population.

Age Patterns in Care-Seeking

Use of urgent care centers was most common among adults aged 18 to 64, with 28.9% reporting at least one visit in the past year. Children aged 0 to 17 followed closely at 28.5%. Adults aged 65 and older were significantly less likely to visit an urgent care center, at 21.9%.

Conversely, retail health clinic use increased with age. While only 10.9% of children visited a retail clinic, the figure rose to 20.1% for adults aged 18 to 64 and 25.0% for those aged 65 and older.

Urban vs. Rural: A Tale of Two Healthcare Landscapes

The most pronounced differences emerged when examining urbanization levels, revealing a pattern that may reflect the physical location of these facilities. Prior Census Bureau and NCHS data indicate that about 97% of retail health clinics are located in metropolitan areas.

For working-age adults (18–64), urgent care center use was notably lower in large central metropolitan areas (26.6%) and nonmetropolitan areas (26.1%) than in large fringe metropolitan areas (31.5%) and medium and small metropolitan areas (30.6%). A similar pattern was observed for adults aged 65 and older, with those in large central metropolitan (20.2%) and nonmetropolitan (19.7%) areas reporting lower urgent care use than those in medium and small metropolitan areas (24.3%).

Retail health clinic use displayed a stark geographic divide across all age groups, with utilization consistently lower in less populated areas. The disparity was particularly striking among adults aged 18 to 64, with 23.0% and 23.1% of those in large central and large fringe metropolitan areas, respectively, reporting a visit to a retail clinic. By contrast, the figure fell to 17.7% in medium and small metropolitan areas and dropped to 12.7% in nonmetropolitan areas. A similar pattern of higher use in large metropolitan areas was observed among children and adults aged 65 and older.

Definitions and Methodology

The survey defines a retail health clinic as a clinic located inside a pharmacy, grocery store, or supercenter. These clinics are typically staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants. An urgent care center is defined as a freestanding facility designed to treat acute, non-life-threatening injuries and illnesses and is typically staffed by a licensed physician.

The 2024 National Health Interview Survey introduced separate questions for each type of facility, allowing for more precise estimates. The response rates were 47.9% for sample adults and 45.8% for sample children. All estimates meet NCHS data presentation standards for proportions.