Which Bay Area Counties Are the Healthiest?

Sarasota is one of the healthiest counties in the state while Pasco has some room for improvement.

Those are just some of the findings of the sixth annual County Health Rankings & Roadmaps report released Wednesday by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute. Through sponsorship from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the university sets a team of researchers to the task of compiling data each year to determine health rankings on a county-by-county basis for states across the country. Data for the rankings comes from such public sources as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, among others.

So, how to Florida’s counties stack up? This year’s rankings put Florida’s St. John’s County in the state’s No. 1 spot for health outcomes. This category ranks counties based on length of life and quality of life. Union County came in last of the state’s 67 counties.

In the Tampa Bay area, counties ranked as follows in regard to health outcomes:

• Sarasota – No. 6
• Manatee – No. 23
• Hillsborough – No. 28
• Pinellas – No. 33
• Pasco – No. 41

Researchers also ranked counties based on “health factors.” This separate ranking includes such factors as adult smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, clinical care and social and economic factors. The No. 1 county in the state in this category is St. Johns again with Putnam in 67th place. Bay area counties ranked as follows:

• Sarasota – No. 3
• Pinellas – No. 19
• Manatee – No. 20
• Hillsborough – No. 22
• Pasco – No. 26

“Our team collects data that is available from other public data sources and compiles those into rankings to help generate conversations in communities and to look for opportunities to come together and try to tackle some of the health challenges that communities face,” explained Stephanie Johnson, associate researcher at the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.

The rankings are meant to serve as a call to action for communities and residents alike with the institute also providing resources to help residents and public health officials improve their standings.

“We recognize that communities sometimes need support and assistance on their journey,” Johnson said. “We want to be able to provide the tools and resources to help them achieve their goals.”

To do that, the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps website features an Action Center with resources available to communities. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also provides communities access to coaching to help local leaders in improving factors related to health.

While some Tampa Bay area counties ranked higher than others, Johnson said that even those in No. 1 positions always have room for improvement when it comes to resident health.

“Even counties that are ranked higher still may have areas of opportunity and challenges they may want to prioritize in terms of improvement,” Johnson said. “Counties that may not be doing as well still have areas of success.” The idea is to “celebrate the successes that are happening on the local (level) and use the rankings as a call to action.”

For more information on this year’s rankings or to delve into county specific data, visit the County Health Rankings & Roadmap website.

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