diff --git a/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst b/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst
index 6c8dd2f8da938..033f47f0c994d 100644
--- a/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst
+++ b/doc/source/whatsnew/v2.0.0.rst
@@ -576,6 +576,7 @@ Deprecations
 - :meth:`Index.is_boolean` has been deprecated. Use :func:`pandas.api.types.is_bool_dtype` instead (:issue:`50042`)
 - :meth:`Index.is_integer` has been deprecated. Use :func:`pandas.api.types.is_integer_dtype` instead (:issue:`50042`)
 - :meth:`Index.is_floating` has been deprecated. Use :func:`pandas.api.types.is_float_dtype` instead (:issue:`50042`)
+- :meth:`Index.holds_integer` has been deprecated. Use :func:`pandas.api.types.infer_dtype` instead (:issue:`50243`)
 
 .. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 .. _whatsnew_200.prior_deprecations:
diff --git a/pandas/core/indexes/base.py b/pandas/core/indexes/base.py
index 59af8f2bbcd51..7d5a7ac5945d6 100644
--- a/pandas/core/indexes/base.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/base.py
@@ -2487,12 +2487,28 @@ def is_interval(self) -> bool:
         return self.inferred_type in ["interval"]
 
     @final
-    def holds_integer(self) -> bool:
+    def _holds_integer(self) -> bool:
         """
         Whether the type is an integer type.
         """
         return self.inferred_type in ["integer", "mixed-integer"]
 
+    @final
+    def holds_integer(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Whether the type is an integer type.
+
+        .. deprecated:: 2.0.0
+            Use `pandas.api.types.infer_dtype` instead
+        """
+        warnings.warn(
+            f"{type(self).__name__}.holds_integer is deprecated. "
+            "Use pandas.api.types.infer_dtype instead.",
+            FutureWarning,
+            stacklevel=find_stack_level(),
+        )
+        return self._holds_integer()
+
     @cache_readonly
     def inferred_type(self) -> str_t:
         """
@@ -5537,7 +5553,7 @@ def _should_fallback_to_positional(self) -> bool:
         """
         Should an integer key be treated as positional?
         """
-        return not self.holds_integer()
+        return not self._holds_integer()
 
     _index_shared_docs[
         "get_indexer_non_unique"
diff --git a/pandas/plotting/_core.py b/pandas/plotting/_core.py
index 2dc236a033415..fbd1eef138792 100644
--- a/pandas/plotting/_core.py
+++ b/pandas/plotting/_core.py
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
                         f"{kind} requires either y column or 'subplots=True'"
                     )
                 if y is not None:
-                    if is_integer(y) and not data.columns.holds_integer():
+                    if is_integer(y) and not data.columns._holds_integer():
                         y = data.columns[y]
                     # converted to series actually. copy to not modify
                     data = data[y].copy()
@@ -948,7 +948,7 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         elif isinstance(data, ABCDataFrame):
             data_cols = data.columns
             if x is not None:
-                if is_integer(x) and not data.columns.holds_integer():
+                if is_integer(x) and not data.columns._holds_integer():
                     x = data_cols[x]
                 elif not isinstance(data[x], ABCSeries):
                     raise ValueError("x must be a label or position")
@@ -957,7 +957,7 @@ def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
                 # check if we have y as int or list of ints
                 int_ylist = is_list_like(y) and all(is_integer(c) for c in y)
                 int_y_arg = is_integer(y) or int_ylist
-                if int_y_arg and not data.columns.holds_integer():
+                if int_y_arg and not data.columns._holds_integer():
                     y = data_cols[y]
 
                 label_kw = kwargs["label"] if "label" in kwargs else False
diff --git a/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py b/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py
index 3277ec06df650..fd17e57a16c4b 100644
--- a/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py
+++ b/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/core.py
@@ -1137,9 +1137,9 @@ def __init__(self, data, x, y, **kwargs) -> None:
         MPLPlot.__init__(self, data, **kwargs)
         if x is None or y is None:
             raise ValueError(self._kind + " requires an x and y column")
-        if is_integer(x) and not self.data.columns.holds_integer():
+        if is_integer(x) and not self.data.columns._holds_integer():
             x = self.data.columns[x]
-        if is_integer(y) and not self.data.columns.holds_integer():
+        if is_integer(y) and not self.data.columns._holds_integer():
             y = self.data.columns[y]
 
         # Scatter plot allows to plot objects data
@@ -1196,7 +1196,7 @@ def __init__(self, data, x, y, s=None, c=None, **kwargs) -> None:
         elif is_hashable(s) and s in data.columns:
             s = data[s]
         super().__init__(data, x, y, s=s, **kwargs)
-        if is_integer(c) and not self.data.columns.holds_integer():
+        if is_integer(c) and not self.data.columns._holds_integer():
             c = self.data.columns[c]
         self.c = c
 
@@ -1291,7 +1291,7 @@ def _kind(self) -> Literal["hexbin"]:
 
     def __init__(self, data, x, y, C=None, **kwargs) -> None:
         super().__init__(data, x, y, **kwargs)
-        if is_integer(C) and not self.data.columns.holds_integer():
+        if is_integer(C) and not self.data.columns._holds_integer():
             C = self.data.columns[C]
         self.C = C
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py
index 6b0046dbe619c..ed8eb350234d1 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py
@@ -815,6 +815,13 @@ def test_is_integer_is_deprecated(self, simple_index):
         with tm.assert_produces_warning(FutureWarning):
             idx.is_integer()
 
+    def test_holds_integer_deprecated(self, simple_index):
+        # GH50243
+        idx = simple_index
+        msg = f"{type(idx).__name__}.holds_integer is deprecated. "
+        with tm.assert_produces_warning(FutureWarning, match=msg):
+            idx.holds_integer()
+
 
 class NumericBase(Base):
     """