Placer, El Dorado two of the healthiest counties in California
By Cynthia Hubert, Sacramento Bee
In Northern California and across the nation, wealth seems to translate into good health, a comprehensive new report affirms.
But the factors behind that trend are complicated, public health experts said following the release of the report Tuesday by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The report ranks counties across the nation based on a wide variety of factors including premature death, smoking and drinking, and access to healthy foods and medical care. In California, Marin tops the list of healthiest counties, followed by Santa Clara, San Benito, Placer and San Mateo.
What do the counties have in common? A relatively high mean household income, according to U.S. census figures.
The five counties ranked as having the poorest health are relatively rural and poorer: Trinity, Del Norte, Siskiyou, Tehama and Lake. Sacramento County ranked 31st of 56 counties. (Two of California’s smallest counties were not included in the study because no data were available.)