America’s Health Rankings 2019: Texas Ranks 34th

AUSTIN, TX — The United Health Foundation recently released the 30th edition of its America’s Health Rankings Annual Report, which represents the longest-running state-by-state analysis of the nation’s health.

Texas didn't emerge as the picture of robust health, ranking 34th healthiest overall among the 50 states. Still, it's an improvement from the 2010 ranking, when the Lone Star State clinched the 40th position.

The state's ranking this year doesn't sound too bad, but its placement in a graph is illustrated by a color code denoting its lowered status. The graph displays the higher-ranked states by green bars to denote performance higher than the U.S. score. Conversely, gold bars — with which Texas is assigned — represent states scoring lower than the overall national score.

Below is where the Lone Star State ranked across five categories used by researchers to determine an overall ranking. Among the main categories are 35 measures of health — the prevalence of e-cigarette use, housing challenges, the proportion of economically disadvantaged residents and the like.

Given that reckoning, here's how Texas ranked within the five main categories, according to the report:

• Behaviors: 14.
• Community & Environment: 40.
• Policy: 50
• Clinical Care: 42
• Health Outcomes: 25

Those categorized results may seem like an abstraction absent some context. Here are some highlights as it relates to Texas yielding additional insight into the health of the Lone Star State:

Strengths

• High percentage of high school graduation.
• Low prevalence of smoking.
• Low drug death rate.

Challenges

• High percentage of uninsured population.
• Low rate of mental health providers.
• High prevalence of diabetes

More highlights

• Since 2012, obesity increased 14 percent from 30.4 percent to 34.8 percent of adults.
• Since 2007, drug deaths increased 24 percent from 8.3 to 10.3 deaths per 100,000 population.
• In the past year, violent crime decreased 6 percent from 439 to 411 offenses per 100,000 population, and has decreased 51 percent since peaking in 1993.
• In the past two years, mental health providers increased 14 percent from 98.3 to 111.8 per 100,000 population.
• In the past year, diabetes increased 6 percent from 11.9 percent to 12.6 percent of adults.
• Since 1993, low birth weight increased 22 percent from 6.9 percent to 8.4 percent of live births.

The America’s Health Rankings Annual Report used 19 data sources to determine the most accurate information for each state, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavior Risk Surveillance System and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and Current Population Survey.

“The report provides a unique opportunity to track short- and long-term public health successes as well as identify current and emerging challenges at state and national levels,” the report's authors wrote. “When reading the report, think beyond the rankings; every state, whether first or last, has strengths and challenges.”

Read the full report at Americashealthrankings.org.