San Mateo County has been ranked as the healthiest county in California according to the latest ranking from U.S. News & World Report 2022ranking him 36th overall.
The results are part of the evaluation of nearly 3,000 counties assessed on 89 parameters in 10 categories related to the health of their populations, 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 rank among the 100 healthiest communities, according to the document.
The highest score for San Mateo County was for health, where a score of 91 was awarded after assessing access to health care, healthy behaviors, health conditions, and mental health.
While the national average life expectancy is 77.5 years, the county reaches an average of 85 years, while only 8.5 percent of the population does not have health insurance, while the national average is 11 percent, and the smoking rate is 9.2 percent, while the national average is 20 percent.
The Economy category was also placed with a score of 91, after the average family income is 109,135 dollars, when the national average is 58,759 dollars; the poverty index 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.
With 90 points was 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.
Thus, in San Mateo County the prevalence of diabetes stood at 8.7 percent, while the national average is 10.4 percent; while obesity stood at 20.6 percent, when in the country the average is 36.2 percent.
Public safety was rated with 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, per capita spending 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 average in the country 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 above the national median of 89.4 percent; while the population with a higher education degree is 58.9 percent above the national average of 30.6 percent; spending per student reaches US$21,013, while the national average is US$13,452.
On the other hand, the environment category reached 71 points; community vitality 50 points.
On the equity category, the county received a score of 45 measuring income, education, health and social equity to determine the extent to which all members of the community have the opportunity to lead productive and healthy lives.
The racial disparity in educational attainment is 0.29, when the national average is 0.16; the premature death disparity index score is 0.054 out of a national average of 0.041; while the segregation index is 0.25 compared to the national average of 0.25.
The housing category scored the worst with only a score of 34, after tracking the availability, affordability and quality of housing in a community.
San Mateo County, 36.3 percent spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing over the national median of 22.8 percent; likewise, the hours of work needed to afford affordable housing is 45.9 over the national median of 40.6; while there are only 5.5 percent of vacant homes, while nationally it is 16.3 percent.
You may be interested in: San Mateo beaches among the worst rated in California according to new report
