These 10 Counties Have The Healthiest People In All Of Indiana
By Courtney Johnston|Published May 06, 2016
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Courtney Johnston
Author
Courtney's originally from the East Coast, but has found a charming new home in Indiana. She loves checking out local music, reading, and trying new food. She's also a little too addicted to coffee and has a Maine Coon cat she answers to.
Understanding the overall health rankings of a population is an extremely complex task, since there are so many factors involved. For many, health is an issue they look for when moving to a new county, so we wanted to provide the 10 healthiest counties in Indiana, based on 2016 findings by County Health Rankings. This study ranked counties based on:
Health behaviors (smoking, drinking, active lifestyles, etc)
Clinical Care (close access)
Social and Economic Factors (crime rate, education levels, poverty levels, etc)
Physical Environment (water and air quality/pollution, housing quality, etc)
This study looks at not just individual factors of health and wellness, but community efforts to provide healthy lifestyles. According to this research, here are the 10 healthiest counties in Indiana:
Porter County makes 10th place with the cities of Valparaiso and Portage. Porter County has low uninsured rates (13%), no drinking water violations, and a low overall poor health percentage of 14.
In 9th place is Posey County, with cities like New Harmony, Poseyville, and Mount Vernon. Posey County made 9th place in the state for its low overall rating for poor health (13%) and lack of drinking water violations.
At number 8 is Dubois County, home to Jasper, Holland, and Ferdinand, Indiana. Dubois County has a low uninsured rate (14%), low preventable hospital stay number (38), and has no drinking water violations. That's pretty healthy!
Whitley County, containing Columbia City and South Whitley, is next in number 7. This county has a fairly low uninsured rate (14%) and a low physical inactivity rating (24%). They also have a low overall score for poor health (13%).
Home to towns such as Williamsport, West Lebanon, and Pine Village, Warren County scores the number 6th spot on our healthiest county rankings. They have low adult obesity ratings (27%) and have no drinking water violations.
Hancock County takes fifth place with towns like Greenfield, New Palestine, and Cumberland. This county has low rates of children in poverty (9%), low income inequality ratings, and a low overall poor health percentage of 13%.
Johnson County, home to Franklin, Greenwood, Whiteland, and Bargersville, comes in fourth for statewide health rankings. They have a low uninsured rate (13%) and low air pollution percentage (13%). They also don't have any drinking water violations, unlike the other top counties in state.
Boone County comes in at third place, covering cities like Zionsville, Lebanon, and Whitestown. They match the national average on a low percentage of poor health (12%) and have lower alcohol related deaths than most other US counties (clocking in at 11%). They also have a much lower rate than the national average of top performers for children in poverty.
Coming in second place is Hendricks County with towns like Avon, Brownsburg, Danville, and Plainfield. Their uninsured rates are low and access to exercise facility percentage is at 77%. They also have a very low overall poor health score at 13%. Congrats, Hendricks County!
Hamilton County includes the large cities of Noblesville, Carmel, and Fishers, as well as some of metropolitan Indianapolis. In this county, over 90% of people have health insurance, which beats the US average, as well as one doctor per every 710 residents (much better than the national average). This county also has extremely low poor health ratings at 11%, again, beating out the national average of 12%. It seems that Hamilton County is keeping it as healthy as possible.
These are the 10 healthiest counties in Indiana, per recent health data. What did you think of these results? Were there any that surprised you? Do you think a different county is healthier than one of these?
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