Menominee County again ranks as the least healthy county in the state, according to the sixth annual County Health Rankings released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Shawano County, which ranked 60th last year among Wisconsin’s 72 counties, moved up to 46th this year for health outcomes (length and quality of life). The county ranked 52nd for health factors (health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, physical environment).
Menominee was 72nd in both categories.
In a release issued with the rankings, the foundation said that this year’s results nationwide highlight the correlation between unemployment rates and the healthiest and least healthiest regions.
Researchers found that the jobless rate is 1.5 times higher in the least healthy counties in each state compared to the healthiest counties.
Menominee County reflects that trend. The county’s unemployment rate is regularly the highest in the state, and more than 31 percent of the county’s residents live below the poverty level, according to the latest census information.
Communities are encouraged to use the rankings, which are compiled for each county in all 50 states, to identify and garner support for local health improvement initiatives among government agencies, health care providers, community organizations, business leaders, policy makers and the public.
“Since the County Health Rankings began in Wisconsin more than a decade ago, we’ve seen them serve as a rallying point for change,” said Karen Timberlake, director of UWPHI in the School of Medicine and Public Health. “Communities are using the rankings to inform their priorities as they work to improve health for all their residents.”
The rankings, which are mostly based on data reported from 2006-2014, included information from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national random digit dial telephone survey, the USDA Food Environment Atlas and National Center for Health Statistics.