At 14.9% uninsured among under-65 residents — the 26th lowest of the 254 counties in Texas — Hays County is among the best-covered parts of Texas, well below the state's 19.1%. Only about 37,209 people here have no coverage. That is good news with one edge to it: near-universal employer coverage means very little local familiarity with the individual market when a job ends.
Hays County against Texas, and against the counties we cover
| Hays County | Texas | Covered counties | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uninsured, under 65 | 14.9% | 19.1% | 13.0% |
| Marketplace enrollees per 1,000 | 82 | — | 127 |
| Insurers selling here | 9 | 6 (median) | 5 |
| Individual plans offered | 102 | — | 84 |
State uninsured rate from the Census SAHIE series; the final column is the median across the 104 counties covered on this site. Enrollment density is CMS plan selections per 1,000 under-65 residents.
What you can actually buy here
9 insurers sell into Hays County. This is a crowded market by national standards. Crowded markets are cheaper on average and much harder to shop, because the plan names stop meaning anything by the third carrier and the differences that matter get buried in documents nobody opens. Between them they offer 102 plans, about 11 for each insurer, which is a normal-sized list to work through once you know which network you need. The count is unchanged from last year, so the networks you compared previously still stand.
20,420 people here bought marketplace coverage for 2026, about 82 per thousand under-65 residents. That sits near the middle of the counties covered on this site: a working individual market, but most local coverage still arrives through an employer. 3,850 of them were new consumers and 16,570 were renewals — a 19% new share, close to the national pattern. Roughly one in six enrollees here arrived within the year.
Nearest counties on coverage
The counties we cover in Texas whose uninsured rate sits closest to Hays County. Worth a look if you are comparing across a county line or moving.
| County | Uninsured | Insurers | Enrollees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell County | 15.0% | 4 | 39,425 |
| Brazoria County | 15.2% | 6 | 39,377 |
| Guadalupe County | 14.6% | 7 | 14,123 |
| Travis County | 14.6% | 10 | 184,355 |
| Galveston County | 15.4% | 5 | 38,700 |
| Ellis County | 16.1% | 8 | 25,545 |
Everything that applies in Texas · How COBRA works · Work out your COBRA premium · After a job ends
Common questions
How many people are uninsured in Hays County?
About 37,209 people under 65, out of 249,025 in that age group — 14.9%, the 26th lowest of the 254 counties in Texas. The Texas average is 19.1%. Census Bureau estimates for 2024, the most recent published.
How many health insurers sell in Hays County?
9 insurers offer individual marketplace plans in Hays County for 2026, unchanged from the year before, and between them they sell 102 individual medical plans. The median across the counties covered on this site is 5 insurers and 84 plans.
How many people in Hays County buy marketplace coverage?
20,420 plan selections for 2026 — 3,850 new consumers and 16,570 renewals. That works out at 82 per thousand under-65 residents, against a median of 127 across the counties covered here. New consumers are the group most likely to have lost a job during the year.
Talk it through with a licensed agent
Which option is right depends on your state, your income and which doctors you need to keep. A licensed agent can walk through it with you in about eight minutes.
Free to call, no obligation, and we never ask you for payment. CobraScout is paid by the agency that answers, not by you. TTY 711.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, 2024 (released August 2026)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Marketplace Open Enrollment County-Level Public Use File
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Service Area Public Use File
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Plan Attributes Public Use File
- U.S. Department of Labor, FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers