A study of 30 factors influencing health found that Montgomery County is the healthiest jurisdiction in Maryland and compares well to the healthiest places in the country.
The sixth annual County Health Rankings, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, used Census numbers, hospital stats, crime data and other government reports to come up with the results.
The rankings were split into five categories: quality of life, health behaviors, clinical care, social/economic factors and physical environment.
Montgomery County ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the state in all categories except physical environment, where high housing costs, the amount of people driving alone to work (66 percent) and the amount of people with “long commutes” (52 percent) put the county at No. 8 out of the state’s 24 local jurisdictions.
Howard, Frederick and Carroll Counties followed Montgomery as the state’s healthiest, per the rankings. Baltimore City was judged to have the poorest health, followed by Caroline, Cecil and Allegany Counties.
Montgomery County had an 8 percent adult smoking rate and a 19 percent adult obesity rate, both numbers that were in the healthiest 10 percent of U.S. counties.
The county’s relative wealth and access to education helped too. The rankings considered high school graduation rates (87 percent), those who did at least some college (76.9 percent) and children in poverty (10 percent), all of which put Montgomery in the top 10 percent in the country.
