People of color less likely to own vehicles in Des Moines metro

In the Des Moines metro, Asian American and Black households are more likely not to own a vehicle.

Why it matters: Transportation is a key social driver of health equity.

• While telehealth has reduced some transportation barriers, it's still not accessible to all and can't replace in-person care for all medical needs, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim reports.

Zoom in: In the metro, 5.4% of households don't have access to a vehicle. That steepens to 9.8% if the head of the household is a person of color, according to data from the National Equity Atlas, which researches racial and economic inequities.

The big picture: A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found as much as 40% of a person's health can be attributed to socioeconomic factors like education, employment and transportation availability.

• But people of color often struggle with systemic inequities that make it more difficult to pay for maintaining a vehicle, as well as insurance and registration.