About the Rankings 

America`s Health RankingsTM is the longest running annual assessment of the nation`s health on a state-by-state basis.  Over the past 20 years, America`s Health RankingsTM has evolved from a source of information for limited audiences to a robust, interactive tool that urges all populations and communities to take action to improve health.  The rankings is published jointly by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.  It provides state-specific rankings from 1 to 50 across a variety of national health benchmarks.  

America`s Health RankingsTM is based on the perspective that, in addition to our individual genetic predisposition to disease, health is the result of four essential and controllable components:

• Our behaviors
• The environment of the community in which we live and work
• The public and health policies and practices made by government and community leaders
• The clinical care we receive

The four components are viewed as the primary health determinants that impact the health outcomes of a state, as well as the nation as a whole. The health determinants interact with each other in a complex web of cause and effect that impact the healthy outcomes we desire. Actions to improve these determinants will eventually improve health outcomes. 

America`s Health RankingsTM employs a unique methodology, developed and periodically reviewed by a panel of leading public health scholars.  The approach balances the contributions of various factors, such as smoking, obesity, children in poverty, access to care, and incidence of preventable disease, to a state`s health. The report is based on data from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Commerce, Education and Labor; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the American Medical Association; the Dartmouth Atlas Project; and the Trust for America`s Health.

New! 20th Anniversary Edition  

For the past 20 years, America`s Health RankingsTM has analyzed a comprehensive set of individual behaviors, public and health policies, community and environmental conditions, and clinical care data to provide a more holistic view of the health of the nation beyond just death-related statistics.  The 20th anniversary rankings features updated state-specific rankings and is accompanied by a supplemental report with estimates of the financial impact obesity is expected to have on the nation - as well as each state specifically - in the next 10 years. The 20th Anniversary Edition of America`s Health RankingsTM has more data than ever before, and the data is now easier to access, compare and share. New interactive Web site tools make it possible to quickly scan key state statistics, as well as search and sort 20 years of data by state and health measure.