NewsHealth

Actions

Healthiest counties in Utah: See if your area ranks on the list

Posted at 4:10 PM, Mar 25, 2015
and last updated 2015-03-25 19:33:07-04
Rank County
1 Cache (CA)
2 Morgan (MO)
3 Davis (DV)
4 Summit (SU)
5 Utah (UT)
6 Wasatch (WA)
7 Box Elder (BE)
8 Kane (KA)
9 Washington (WS)
10 Salt Lake (SL)
11 Tooele (TO)
12 Emery (EM)
13 Sanpete (SA)
14 Iron (IR)
15 Juab (JU)
16 Millard (MI)
17 Sevier (SE)
18 Weber (WE)
19 Garfield (GA)
20 Carbon (CR)
21 Grand (GR)
22 Beaver (BV)
23 Wayne (WY)
24 Uintah (UI)
25 Duchesne (DU)
26 Piute (PI)
27 San Juan (SJ)
NR Daggett (DA)
NR Rich (RI)

Quick, guess which county you think ranked the healthiest in Utah.

It’s Morgan County, according to the latest study from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

It analyzed every county in the United States on a whole host of factors from personal habits like smoking and eating to life-span, birth weight and even air quality.

According to the study, it appears the suburbs fare better than the urban core and both are better Utah's most rural areas.

In the study, there are really two lists.

One predicts future health by examining a number of factors like access to doctors, fitness clubs, participation in health activities and environmental factors like water and air quality.

Health factors Utah

On that list, San Juan County comes in last in the state.

Bottom 5 counties for health factors: Wayne, Uintah, Duchesne, Piute and San Juan counties.

Cache County had the best combination of health lifestyles and access to health care and exercise.

It seems to be in a sweet spot, a small city with a big university.

Morgan, Davis, Summit and Utah counties also had the best factors for a healthy lifestyle.

The second list of a snapshot of health right now; it looks at how often people die young and how their current health.

Health Outcomes Utah map

Carbon County is at the bottom of that list.

Residents there die younger and report more sick days and mental health days than other counties.

Uintah, Sevier, Grand, Duchesne and Carbon counties are also at the bottom of that list.

Morgan County is the healthiest right now; early deaths are rare and residents don't get sick or feel down as often.

Cache, Wasatch, Summit and Utah counties also ranked in the top five.

MORE: See the full health rankings for Utah