The sixth annual County Health Rankings have been released, providing a plethora of county-level maps and statistics on health rankings and measures for Wisconsin and the rest of the nation.
The rankings can be viewed on the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R) website — a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Population Health Institute (UWPHI).
According to the UWPHI Press Release, the rankings are a “snapshot comparing the health of nearly every county in the nation. The local-level data allows each state to see how its counties compare on 30 factors that influence health, including education, housing, violent crime, jobs, diet, and exercise.”
The 2015 rankings show that the healthiest county in Wisconsin is Ozaukee, followed by Pepin, Calumet, Florence, and Kewaunee. The five counties in the poorest health, starting with the least healthy, are Menominee, Milwaukee, Forest, Washburn, and Rusk.
Health indicator maps for Wisconsin are available on the Wisconsin overview page. These maps depict rankings for health outcomes and health indictors for each Wisconsin county for each year since 2010. Tables, graphs, and maps are available for a variety of attributes — length and quality of life, health behaviors (such as smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity), clinical care, socio-demographic factors, and physical environment conditions.
There is plenty to explore for researchers, policy makers, and the general public seeking information about health conditions across the state.
The maps of single variables are nicely done. For users interested in producing their own maps and performing analysis, the data can be downloaded in tabular form. See the site’s terms of use page for restrictions.
The Population Health Institute is a center within the School of Medicine and Public Health at UW-Madison. The Institute is a focal point for health and health care dialogue within the UW-Madison, and promotes the exchange of expertise between those within the university and those in the policy and practice arena.