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It is a known fact that one of the most important social determinants of health is where you live. More and more local and state governments are realizing how important environment is to overall health and well-being.
For Latinos, where they live is often leads to unavoidable health disparities due to lack of access to healthcare, healthy food choices, and educational opportunities.
Recently U.S. News & World Report outlined the best and worst states to live in based on a host of categories that residents value the most. These categories include health care, education, infrastructure, crime rates, and economic opportunities.
According to the new report, Massachusetts (10.56% Latino population) was rated number one overall. Not surprisingly, as Massachusetts is home to Harvard University, Williams College, Amherst College, Boston College, and Wellesley College, the state ranked first in education. It also ranked second on the list in health care (first in health care access) and the median household income of $70,628 was well above the national average of $55,775.
In addition to Massachusetts, two other New England states (New Hampshire and Vermont) claimed spots in the top 10. No southern states made it onto the list’s top 10 ranking.
In order to reduce health disparities, it is critical to address inequities in programs, practices, and policies. Join our site, connect with others, and get involved.
Of the major categories, New Hampshire (2nd) was ranked first in overall opportunity, Hawaii (27th on the list) was first in health care, Vermont (10th) was first in crime rates, Oregon (19th) was first in infrastructure, Colorado (9th) was first in economy, and Indiana (22nd) was first in government.
Southern states fared the worst on the list. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana ranked 47-50 respectively on the list. For Latinos, New Mexico (47.36% Latino population) ranked 46th on the list. In every category covered, the state was in the bottom half of the rankings. California (38.39% Latino population) was the state with the highest Latino population that performed the best on the list, coming in at 23rd overall.
Read the full report here.
Read stories similar to this one:
- Salud America! Gets $1.5M to Develop Culturally Tailored Content to Fuel Healthy Changes that Reduce Latino Childhood Obesity http://salud.to/2met5Ld
- In Boston, health & income disparities are growing for #Latinos. #SaludAmerica #HealthEquity http://salud.to/2m4ai4M
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HousingBy The Numbers
56.9
percent
of Latinos are "housing cost burdened"
