From the housing crisis to rising homelessness, inequality and traffic, the Bay Area has its share of challenges. But there’s one area where the region is thriving, according to a new study: Health.
The study from health care startup Voro ranked the healthiest counties across the U.S. and California by analyzing a range of variables, including life expectancy, smoking, obesity, and activity rates, access to exercise and medical care, insurance coverage, and air pollution. The results: San Francisco was the healthiest county in the state and healthier than 98% of all U.S. counties. Marin County ranked second in California, Santa Cruz was fourth, just ahead of San Mateo (5) and Alameda Counties (7). Santa Clara County ranked number 10, just ahead of Contra Costa County at 11. Sacramento County was ranked 12th Los Angeles County ranked 35th.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Kings County was found to be the least healthy county in California and in the 4th percentile of healthiest counties nationwide. The average life expectancy in Kings County is 79.9 years and the area has 39 primary care providers per 100,000 residents. San Francisco County, by comparison, has a life expectancy of 83.5 years and 157 primary care providers per 100,000.
Voro CEO Tomas Hoyos says the range within California made the state stand out.
“If you look at California holistically, the state seems to be doing well but it does have a bunch of this polarization,” he says. “You really have this wide range from the top end of California to the bottom end.”
Despite the disparities, California appeared to outperform the country on a number of different variables. The state’s life expectancy of 80 is three years higher than the national average, and 92% of California residents have health insurance compared to 88% nationwide.
In San Francisco, where 95 % of the population is insured, Voro says access to health care was likely the primary driver behind the county’s high ranking. In Marin, San Mateo, Alameda, and Santa Clara Counties, 95% of the population is also insured.
“Whether it’s housing or homelessness, the Bay Area has gotten beaten up publicly for a long time, but there are certain things they are doing really well, particularly on access to health care,” Voro says.
Researchers weighed all of the variables analyzed equally and used the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics, the American Medical Association, and the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, among others.
This article is part of The California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequity and economic survival in California.
