San Mateo County has been ranked the healthiest county in California according to the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report 2022, placing him at number 36 in his overall ranking.
The results are part of an assessment of nearly 3,000 counties evaluated across 89 parameters in 10 categories related to the health of their residents, medical care, healthy behaviors, and health conditions, including mental health.
In this survey, each participant distributed 100 points among the 10 health categories and subcategories, assigning more points to the condition they considered most important.
San Mateo County is joined by Santa Clara and Marin counties, which are among the 100 healthiest communities, according to the document.
San Mateo County received the highest score in health, with a score of 91 after evaluating access to health care, healthy behaviors, health conditions, and mental health.
And while the national average life expectancy is 77.5 years, the county averages 85 years, while only 8.5 percent of the population does not have health insurance, when the national average reaches 11 percent, and the smoking rate is 9.2 percent, while the national average is 20 percent.
The Economy category also received a score of 91, given that the average family income is $109,135, when the national average is $58,759; the poverty rate is 6.2 percent, when the national average is 13.6 percent; however, the unemployment rate is 7.0 percent, when the national average is 6.5 percent.
The Food and Nutrition category, which tracks the availability and use of healthy foods in a community, as well as the prevalence of chronic diseases that have been linked to poor nutrition, received 90 points.
In San Mateo County, the prevalence of diabetes was 8.7 percent, compared to the national average of 10.4 percent; and obesity was 20.6 percent, compared to 36.2 percent in the country.
Public safety was rated 89 points, due to the fact that in the county there is an average of 209.1 violent crimes per 100,000 people, when the national average is 204.5; in addition, there are 0.66 percent of public safety professionals in the population, when in the country the average is 0.73 percent; however, the per capita expenditure on health and emergency services is 1,216 dollars, when the national average is 358 dollars.
In the Infrastructure category, the county received 84 points. This could be due to the fact that the walkability index score is 10.2, while the national average is 6.1; however, 10.9 percent of workers commute 60 minutes or more, when the average is 6.8 percent; while the population with access to broadband is 100 percent, when the national average is 96.7 percent.
Education scored just 77 points after examining the strength of a community's education system and the educational attainment of its residents through measures of participation, infrastructure and achievement.
The high school graduation rate is 85.9 percent, compared to the national average of 89.4 percent; the population with a higher degree is 58.9 percent, compared to the national average of 30.6 percent; spending per student reaches $21,013, compared to the national average of $13,452.
On the other hand, the environment category reached 71 points and community vitality 50 points.
In the equity category, the county received a score of 45 measuring income, education, health and social equity to determine the extent to which all community members have the opportunity to lead productive and healthy lives.
The racial disparity in educational attainment is 0.29, compared to the national average of 0.16; the premature death disparity index score is 0.054, compared to a national average of 0.041; and the segregation index is 0.25, compared to the national average of 0.25.
The housing category received the lowest rating, with a score of just 34, after tracking the availability, affordability and quality of housing in a community.
In San Mateo County, 36.3 percent of residents spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing, compared to the national median of 22.8 percent; the hours of work required to pay for affordable housing is 45.9, compared to the national median of 40.6; and only 5.5 percent of homes are vacant, compared to 16.3 percent nationwide.
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