Healthiest and Least Healthy Counties Ranked in Every State

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More than 3,000 U.S. counties and the District of Columbia can compare how healthy their residents are and how long they live with the new 2012 County Health Rankings.

The rankings, by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), are an annual check-up that highlights the healthiest and least healthy counties in every state, as well as those factors that influence health, outside of the doctor’s office. The rankings highlight the importance of critical factors such as education rates, income levels, and access to healthy foods, as well as access to medical care, in influencing how long and how well people live.

Find the full rankings here. Find the county health calculator here.

Healthier counties (those where people live longer and have a better quality of life) have lower rates of smoking, physical inactivity, teen births, preventable hospital stays, unemployment, children in poverty, and violent crime and higher levels of education, social support, and access to primary care physicians.

Here are some distinct regional patterns:

• Excessive drinking rates are highest in the northern states.
• Rates of teen births, sexually transmitted infections, and children in poverty are highest across the southern states.
• Unemployment rates are lowest in the northeastern, Midwest, and central plains states.
• Motor vehicle crash deaths are lowest in the northeastern and upper Midwest states.

New this year, the County Health Roadmaps will help counties to mobilize and take action to create healthier places.

Go here to learn what other communities are doing to improve the health of their residents and how your county can develop plans to address health challenges.

The launch of the rankings and roadmaps also coincides with the release of the call for applications for the Roadmaps to Health Prize, another component of the County Health Roadmaps project that recognizes and honors the efforts and accomplishments of communities in the U.S. working at the forefront of better health for all residents. Up to six Roadmaps to Health Prize winning communities will be honored in early 2013 and each will receive a no-strings-attached $25,000 cash prize. Find out more and apply here, or watch this video.