Politics & Government

Does Living in Cupertino Keep You Healthy?

A new report indicates community health in Santa Clara County is among the best in the state. What do you think?

It's not just diet and exercise, where people live matters to their health, a study says.

When it comes to community health, Santa Clara County is among the best in the state, according to the 2013 County Health Rankings released this week.

Santa Clara County comes in No. 3 in the state for health outcomes, measured by mortality and morbidity. The county ranks fourth for health factors, a broad category that includes health behaviors (like smoking), healthcare, the physical environment, and social and economic factors.

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Santa Clara County's ratings have been been high since the study began four years ago, but the county's performance was slightly better last year.

Rural Alpine County was too small to measure in many of the categories, officials said, marking 57 of the state's 58 counties in the rankings.

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Marin County was rated the healthiest county in the state in the 2013 report.

County Health Rankings 2013 County Health Outcomes Health Factors Santa Clara 4 3 San Mateo 4 3 Santa Cruz 13 10

Check out Santa Clara County's rankings in various categories over the past four years below. A lower rating is better. See more here.

Santa Clara County Health Rankings 2010 2011 2012 2013 Health Outcomes (total) 4
4
2 3 Mortality 2
2
2 3 Morbidity 19
19
16 14 Health Factors (total) 3
3
4 4 Health Behaviors 1
4
5
6 Clinical Care 10 9 8 3
Social & Economic Factors 3 4
5
5 Physical Environment 34
11
22
12

Some highlights from the 2013 report:

  • 83 percent of adults in Santa Clara have graduated from high school. Statewide, just 76 percent of adults are high school graduates.
  • 14 percent of Santa Clara County residents are lacked health insurance, compared to 21 percent statewide.
  • the unemployment rate in Santa Clara County was 9.7 percent, well below the state average of 11.7 percent.

Thirteen percent of children in Santa Clara County live in poverty in 2013 and 21 percent of adults here are obese, according to the study.

The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program began in 2010 as a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.

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