Missing Millions · 2026 estimate

North Carolina is missing 408,300 lung cancer screenings.

About 1 in 9 adults ages 50 to 80 in North Carolina qualifies for lung cancer screening and hasn't been screened. Find your county below.

505,300adults qualify for screening under USPSTF 2021 criteria (estimate)
19.2%were screened, 22nd of 51 (American Lung Association, 2025); 18.2% nationally
20,580low-dose CT screening scans billed to Medicare fee-for-service by North Carolina providers in 2024

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates 2025; CDC PLACES 2025; USPSTF 2021; American Lung Association, State of Lung Cancer 2025; CMS Medicare Physician and Other Practitioners 2024 (CPT 71271). Modeled estimates; see methodology below.

The gap, county by county

Shade shows how many adults ages 50 to 80 are missing screening. Select a county.

Mecklenburg County

28,800

missing lung cancer screenings (estimate)

  • Qualify for screening35,600
  • Adults 50 to 80 missing screening1 in 12
  • Medicare low-dose CT scans, 20242,487
Open the Mecklenburg County page

Every North Carolina county, ranked

Ranked by estimated missing screenings. Select a column to sort.
1Mecklenburg County28,80035,6001 in 122,487
2Wake County28,10034,7001 in 132,791
3Guilford County18,70023,1001 in 101,285
4Forsyth County14,20017,6001 in 9380
5Cumberland County10,90013,5001 in 81,320
6Buncombe County10,10012,5001 in 101,096
7Gaston County10,00012,4001 in 8174
8Johnston County9,20011,4001 in 980
9Brunswick County9,10011,2001 in 100
10Davidson County8,40010,4001 in 80
11Durham County8,40010,4001 in 12852
12Union County8,20010,1001 in 110
13New Hanover County8,0009,8001 in 111,334
14Iredell County7,7009,5001 in 10349
15Cabarrus County7,4009,2001 in 100
16Catawba County7,3009,1001 in 9707
17Randolph County7,3009,0001 in 80
18Rowan County7,0008,7001 in 841
19Alamance County6,8008,5001 in 90
20Robeson County6,8008,4001 in 636
21Pitt County5,7007,1001 in 92,640
22Onslow County5,3006,5001 in 9186
23Harnett County5,3006,5001 in 818
24Henderson County5,2006,4001 in 100
25Rockingham County5,1006,4001 in 70
26Wayne County5,1006,4001 in 8231
27Cleveland County4,9006,1001 in 825
28Burke County4,7005,8001 in 7283
29Nash County4,6005,7001 in 8210
30Caldwell County4,4005,4001 in 70
31Lincoln County4,3005,4001 in 938
32Craven County4,2005,2001 in 9768
33Wilson County4,1005,1001 in 7101
34Surry County3,8004,7001 in 70
35Moore County3,7004,6001 in 111,106
36Rutherford County3,6004,5001 in 796
37Wilkes County3,6004,5001 in 766
38Orange County3,6004,4001 in 13553
39Franklin County3,4004,3001 in 80
40Carteret County3,3004,1001 in 1041
41Chatham County3,3004,1001 in 11730
42Stanly County3,2003,9001 in 873
43Lenoir County3,1003,9001 in 653
44Haywood County3,0003,7001 in 955
45Halifax County3,0003,7001 in 60
46Pender County3,0003,7001 in 90
47Lee County2,9003,6001 in 846
48Granville County2,8003,5001 in 80
49Sampson County2,8003,5001 in 7126
50Columbus County2,7003,4001 in 70
51Edgecombe County2,6003,2001 in 725
52Beaufort County2,5003,1001 in 80
53Stokes County2,5003,1001 in 80
54McDowell County2,4003,0001 in 70
55Richmond County2,4002,9001 in 60
56Duplin County2,3002,8001 in 80
57Vance County2,1002,6001 in 70
58Macon County2,1002,6001 in 80
59Person County2,1002,6001 in 80
60Scotland County2,0002,5001 in 60
61Hoke County2,0002,5001 in 80
62Davie County2,0002,4001 in 90
63Yadkin County1,9002,4001 in 80
64Alexander County1,9002,4001 in 70
65Cherokee County1,9002,3001 in 80
66Jackson County1,7002,2001 in 940
67Dare County1,6002,0001 in 110
68Pasquotank County1,6002,0001 in 90
69Watauga County1,6002,0001 in 1037
70Bladen County1,6001,9001 in 70
71Ashe County1,5001,9001 in 80
72Montgomery County1,4001,7001 in 80
73Transylvania County1,4001,7001 in 100
74Currituck County1,4001,7001 in 90
75Caswell County1,3001,6001 in 70
76Anson County1,3001,6001 in 60
77Warren County1,2001,5001 in 70
78Martin County1,2001,5001 in 70
79Greene County1,1001,4001 in 60
80Bertie County1,1001,3001 in 70
81Yancey County1,1001,3001 in 80
82Hertford County1,0001,3001 in 70
83Northampton County1,0001,3001 in 70
84Madison County1,0001,2001 in 90
85Polk County1,0001,2001 in 100
86Avery County9401,2001 in 80
87Swain County8301,0001 in 60
88Chowan County8101,0001 in 70
89Mitchell County7709501 in 90
90Perquimans County7309001 in 80
91Alleghany County7209001 in 70
92Pamlico County7209001 in 90
93Washington County7108801 in 70
94Clay County6808501 in 90
95Jones County5807201 in 7101
96Gates County5707001 in 80
97Camden County4205201 in 100
98Graham County4205201 in 80
99Hyde County3103901 in 70
100Tyrrell County2002501 in 70

Methodology

How we estimate the gap

A modeled estimate from public data only. It is not a count of patients and contains no patient information.

missing = adults 50 to 80 × county smoking rate × national eligibility factor × (1 − state screening rate)

  • Adults 50 to 80: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates, Vintage 2025
  • Smoking: CDC PLACES 2025 release (Kentucky and Pennsylvania: 2024 release)
  • Eligibility: USPSTF 2021 criteria, scaled to about 14.5 million eligible adults nationally
  • Screening rates: American Lung Association, State of Lung Cancer 2025
  • Who is missing: Census population estimates (age) and American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 (language)
  • Screening activity: CMS Medicare fee-for-service claims for low-dose CT (CPT 71271), 2024, by provider location

Estimates under 50 are shown as "fewer than 50"; others are rounded. Full methodology

Many of them are already your patients.

Oatmeal Health helps health systems and community health centers find, navigate, and screen the people who qualify, alongside the care teams you already have.

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