County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program has released 2014 national health rankings. Some counties in Illinois are on the right track health-wise, but some have room for improvement.
To determine rankings, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps measured factors including length of life, quality of life, personal health behaviors, access to clinical care, socioeconomic indicators and physical environment. Here's a breakdown of how each category is weighed:
Since there are 102 counties in Illinois, we've only provided rankings for the 25 healthiest counties and the 25 least healthy. Along with the rankings are some bullet point statistics, if applicable:
- Percent of adults reporting poor or fair health (age-adjusted).
- Percent of adult population reporting a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 30.
- Excessive drinking (binge plus heavy drinking).
- Physical inactivity (number of adults aged 20 or over that report having no leisure-time to partake in physical activity).
- Uninsured (percent of population under the age of 65 without health insurance).
- Percent of 9th grader who graduate high school in four years.
- Percent of children living in a single-parent household.
- Violent crime rate per a population of 100,000.
- Air pollution (average daily measure of fine particulate matter in micrograms per cubic meter - PM2.5).
You can read more on the ranking method here. To view all of Illinois' counties as well as additional metrics, check out County Health Rankings & Roadmaps' website.
Here are seven of the healthiest counties:
25. Will
Adult population with poor or fair health: 13 percent
Adult obesity rate: 33 percent
Excessive drinking: 24 percent
Physical inactivity: 24 percent
Uninsured: 11 percent
High school graduation: 86 percent
Children in single-parent households: 21 percent
Violent crime rate: 169
Air pollution: 13.1
24. Ogle
Adult population with poor or fair health: 17 percent
Adult obesity rate: 28 percent
Excessive drinking: 21 percent
Physical inactivity: 27 percent
Uninsured: 12 percent
High school graduation: 89 percent
Children in single-parent households: 24 percent
Violent crime rate: 66
Air pollution: 12.3
23. Champaign
Adult population with poor or fair health: 10 percent
Adult obesity rate: 27 percent
Excessive drinking: 18 percent
Physical inactivity: 22 percent
Uninsured: 13 percent
High school graduation: 86 percent
Children in single-parent households: 37 percent
Violent crime rate: 616
Air pollution: 13.3
22. Effingham
Adult population with poor or fair health: 11 percent
Adult obesity rate: 27 percent
Excessive drinking: 31 percent
Physical inactivity: 27 percent
Uninsured: 11 percent
High school graduation: 88 percent
Children in single-parent households: 24 percent
Violent crime rate: 134
Air pollution: 13.4
21. Piatt
Adult population with poor or fair health: 12 percent
Adult obesity rate: 30 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 28 percent
Uninsured: 10 percent
High school graduation: 93 percent
Children in single-parent households: 17 percent
Violent crime rate: 219
Air pollution: 13.0
20. Calhoun
Adult population with poor or fair health: N/A
Adult obesity rate: 30 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 34 percent
Uninsured: 13 percent
High school graduation: 88 percent
Children in single-parent households: 13 percent
Violent crime rate: 358
Air pollution: 11.5
19. Shelby
Adult population with poor or fair health: 9 percent
Adult obesity rate: 30 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 31 percent
Uninsured: 14 percent
High school graduation: 92 percent
Children in single-parent households: 20 percent
Violent crime rate: 119
Air pollution: 13.1
Here are seven of the least healthy counties:
102. Alexander
Adult population with poor or fair health: N/A
Adult obesity rate: 33 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 30 percent
Uninsured: 14 percent
High school graduation: N/A
Children in single-parent households: 64 percent
Violent crime rate: 1,351
Air pollution: 13.0
101. Gallatin
Adult population with poor or fair health: N/A
Adult obesity rate: 30 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 30 percent
Uninsured: 15 percent
High school graduation: N/A
Children in single-parent households: 33 percent
Violent crime rate: 107
Air pollution: 13.9
100. Franklin
Adult population with poor or fair health: 22 percent
Adult obesity rate: 30 percent
Excessive drinking: 12 percent
Physical inactivity: 30 percent
Uninsured: 14 percent
High school graduation: 83 percent
Children in single-parent households: 40 percent
Violent crime rate: 333
Air pollution: 13.2
99. Saline
Adult population with poor or fair health: 16 percent
Adult obesity rate: 30 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 32 percent
Uninsured: 13 percent
High school graduation: 80 percent
Children in single-parent households: 36 percent
Violent crime rate: 338
Air pollution: 13.6
98. Pulaski
Adult population with poor or fair health: N/A
Adult obesity rate: 33 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 30 percent
Uninsured: 15 percent
High school graduation: N/A
Children in single-parent households: 41 percent
Violent crime rate: 1,124
Air pollution: 13.2
97. Massac
Adult population with poor or fair health: 33 percent
Adult obesity rate: 34 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 30 percent
Uninsured: 13 percent
High school graduation: 92 percent
Children in single-parent households: 28 percent
Violent crime rate: 343
Air pollution: 13.6
96. Edwards
Adult population with poor or fair health: N/A
Adult obesity rate: 27 percent
Excessive drinking: N/A
Physical inactivity: 26 percent
Uninsured: 12 percent
High school graduation: 93 percent
Children in single-parent households: 24 percent
Violent crime rate: 137
Air pollution: 14.0
See the top 18 healthiest and least healthy Illinois counties at Reboot Illinois.
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