JACKSON, Wyo. — Teton County came in 17th out of 500 in a new ranking by U.S. News & World Report that took the pulse of community health around the country.
For the rankings, released Tuesday, Aug. 6, authors looked at at nearly 3,000 communities across the U.S. and rated them on a host of health metrics, including population health, equity, education, economy, housing, food and nutrition, environment, public safety, community vitality and infrastructure. They then took the top 500 and ranked them.
Food and nutrition was Teton County’s top category, in which it received a 98 out of 100. To get this score, the authors looked at the incidence of chronic diseases linked to poor nutrition and the availability and use of healthy foods. Teton County’s obesity and diabetes rates are well below the national average, and it has more local food outlets per capita, with 12.9 per 100,000 compared with the national rate of 5.9.
Teton County also scored well on its economy. Its unemployment rate is 2.1%, compared to the national rate of 3.6% and the poverty rate is 6.9% compared with 14.4% nationally.
Housing, on the other hand, reflected the county’s worst score across the board, with a 50 out of 100. Metrics in this category included housing affordability, capacity and quality. Of the county’s households, 27% spend at least 30% of their income on housing, compared with the national average of 23.5%. While 6% of Teton County households are overcrowded, that number falls to 2.4% nationally.
The county also performed poorly in the area of equity, including racial disparity in education levels and disparity in premature death, but did well in infrastructure and community vitality.
Teton County, Idaho also made the top 500 list, coming in at 324th in the overall rankings. Its strongest areas were food and nutrition and equity.
The healthiest community in the country was determined to be Falls Church City, VA, followed by Los Alamos County, NM and Douglas County, CO.
U.S. News & World Report said its categories were based on a national community health framework, and its data was gathered from “well-recognized and validated sources,” including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
