The 2024 edition of the annual report ranking U.S. counties based on health outcomes and factors reveals continued disparities between urban and rural areas in Arkansas.
The County Health Rankings & Roadmap report released Wednesday, March 20, ranks Benton, Washington, and Faulkner counties first, second, and third, respectively, in Arkansas for overall health outcomes. has been done. Benton County and Washington County tied for the same spot in last year's ranking, but Saline County came in third in last year's report.
The county with the lowest ranking for health outcomes in this year's report, or the county with the least favorable outcomes, is Delta County in Monroe (73 counties).rd), Lee (74th), Phillips (75th). Phillips County was ranked 75th last year, but Monroe and Lee counties swapped positions from last year, when they ranked 74th.th and 73rd, Each. In general, counties in the Delta region tend to rank lower in this year's report than counties in other parts of the state.
County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, also provides comparisons between Arkansas and the United States for each indicator. This year's report finds that Arkansas' health compares unfavorably with the nation on every measure.
In addition to health outcomes (longevity and quality of life, the latter based on self-reported health status and low birth weight rates), the report examines overall health factors (health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors). , physical environment) among county residents.
For overall health factors, Benton, Washington, and Saline counties rank first, second, and third, respectively, while Chicot County (73rd)rd), Phillips (74th), Lee (75)th) is the lowest. Arkansas' health factors are worse than the nation in 22 of the 29 categories included in the overall ranking. These measures include:
Health factors that are more favorable for Arkansas than for the United States as a whole include:
- Percentage of adults who reported binge eating or binge drinking.
- Percentage of people aged 16 and over who are unemployed but looking for work.
- Number of member organizations (civil, political, religious, sports, professional) per 10,000 people. A measure of social support opportunities.
- Percentage of households with at least one of four housing problems: overcrowding, high housing costs, lack of kitchen facilities, or lack of plumbing.
- Percentage of workers who commute by car for more than 30 minutes.
This year's report also highlights the link between citizen participation and health. Specifically, the report evaluates city infrastructure, defined as opportunities for the public to connect, such as local news, broadband internet, and access to public libraries. Key points regarding urban infrastructure are:
- Counties that are considered the healthiest in the nation in terms of longevity and quality of life tend to have stronger public infrastructure than the least healthy counties.
- In more rural areas of the country, including along the U.S.-Mexico border and in the Black Belt (285 counties in the southern U.S. where at least 30% of residents identify as non-Hispanic black or African American only), public Infrastructure is lacking. , Appalachia (423 counties in 13 states spanning the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi) and surrounding areas of American Indian/Alaska Native tribal areas.
- The report says areas that create barriers to citizen participation, such as laws that create obstacles to voting, are inhibiting citizen participation. These counties also have lower life expectancy than counties with fewer barriers to civic life.
See our blog post to learn how Arkansas counties rank according to the 2023 County Health Rankings and Roadmap Report.
