2014 Rankings: Key Findings Report

The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program helps communities identify and implement solutions that make it easier for people to be healthy in their schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Ranking the health of nearly every county in the nation, the County Health Rankings illustrate what we know when it comes to what is making people sick or healthy. The Roadmaps show what we can do to create healthier places to live, learn, work, and play. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) collaborates with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) to bring this program to cities, counties, and states across the nation. Now in its fifth year, the County Health Rankings continue to bring actionable data to communities across the nation. Based on data available, the Rankings are unique in their ability to measure the overall health of each county in all 50 states on the many factors that influence health. They have been used to garner support among government agencies, healthcare providers, community organizations, business leaders, policymakers, and the public for local health improvement initiatives. We compile the Rankings using county-level measures from a variety of national data sources which can be found on page 10. These measures are standardized and combined using scientifically-informed weights. We then rank counties by state, providing two overall ranks: 1. Health outcomes: how healthy a county is now? 2. Health factors: how healthy a county will be in the future? We report these ranks at countyhealthrankings.org, along with all the underlying measures for this year and prior years. We also provide tools to help communities use their data to identify opportunities for improvement and guidance to help them act and improve their health. This document includes: A. A summary of our key national findings B. Information on key measures C. Information on new measures D. Healthiest and least healthy counties in each state E. Comparison of top 10 percent healthiest and bottom 10 percent least healthy counties F. Listing of measures and data source