Health Rankings

Office of Performance Improvement (OPI)

2012 Rankings Archive

Rankings released April 3, 2012.

Jump To:

Rankings: Health Outcomes and Factors
Rankings: Outcomes and Factors By County
2012 News Coverage

MDH News Release: Nationwide 2012 County Health Rankings explore the health of Minnesota Counties (MDH)
CHR News Release: Healthiest and Least Healthy Counties Ranked in Every State (PDF: 228KB / 3 pages)
CHR Website: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

The 2012 County Health Rankings report ranks Minnesota counties according to their summary measures of health outcomes and health factors. Counties also receive a rank for mortality, morbidity, health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment.

Health outcomes represent how healthy a community is, while health factors represent what influences the health of the community.

2012 Rankings: Health Outcomes and Factors

Summary health outcomes rankings are based on an equal weighting of mortality and morbidity measures. Summary health factors rankings are based on weighted scores of four types of factors: behavioral, clinical, social and economic, and environmental. The weights for these factors are based upon a review of the literature and expert input, but represent just one way of combining these factors.

Jump To: Health Outcomes and Factors by County

Rank	Health Outcomes	Rank	Health Factors
1	Steele	1	Olmsted
2	Carver	2	Carver
3	McLeod	3	Washington
4	Douglas	4	Nicollet
5	Fillmore	5	Scott
6	Jackson	6	Big Stone
7	Washington	7	Jackson
8	Dakota	8	Dakota
9	Le Sueur	9	Wabasha
10	Scott	10	Pope
11	Marshall	11	Rock
12	Lac qui Parle	12	Stevens
13	Wright	13	Murray
14	Chippewa	14	Wilkin
15	Clearwater	15	Douglas
16	Houston	16	Wright
17	Brown	17	Rice
18	Nicollet	18	Houston
19	Sibley	19	Yellow Medicine
20	Winona	20	Stearns
21	Wilkin	21	Lac qui Parle
22	Lincoln	22	Clay
23	Olmsted	23	Pipestone
24	Waseca	24	Goodhue
25	Meeker	25	McLeod
26	Pope	26	Cottonwood
27	Otter Tail	27	Brown
28	Sherburne	28	Cook
29	Blue Earth	29	Steele
30	Big Stone	30	Hennepin
31	Dodge	31	Dodge
32	Rice	32	Roseau
33	Stearns	33	Lyon
34	Pennington	34	Redwood
35	Kandiyohi	35	Lake
36	Aitkin	36	Martin
37	Red Lake	37	Winona
38	Anoka	38	Pennington
39	Isanti	39	Lincoln
40	Swift	40	Fillmore
41	Hubbard	41	Grant
42	Cook	42	Blue Earth
43	Redwood	43	Meeker
44	Nobles	44	Carlton
45	Martin	45	Benton
46	Mower	46	Marshall
47	Wabasha	47	Waseca
48	Stevens	48	Chisago
49	Murray	49	Le Sueur
50	Kanabec	50	Sherburne
51	Roseau	51	Anoka
52	Hennepin	52	Sibley
53	Goodhue	53	Swift
54	Polk	54	Nobles
55	Benton	55	Kandiyohi
56	Chisago	56	Otter Tail
57	Pine	57	Chippewa
58	Koochiching	58	Mower
59	Renville	59	Crow Wing
60	Itasca	60	Hubbard
61	Ramsey	61	Itasca
62	Crow Wing	62	Norman
63	Carlton	63	Isanti
64	Clay	64	St. Louis
65	Faribault	65	Renville
66	Freeborn	66	Wadena
67	Todd	67	Becker
68	Watonwan	68	Faribault
69	Yellow Medicine	69	Ramsey
70	Grant	70	Freeborn
71	Becker	71	Polk
72	St. Louis	72	Watonwan
73	Mille Lacs	73	Koochiching
74	Rock	74	Red Lake
75	Lyon	75	Aitkin
76	Cottonwood	76	Morrison
77	Beltrami	77	Todd
78	Morrison	78	Pine
79	Lake	79	Kanabec
80	Wadena	80	Mille Lacs
81	Norman	81	Cass
82	Pipestone	82	Mahnomen
83	Mahnomen	83	Clearwater
84	Cass	84	Beltrami

Not ranked: Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Traverse

Source: University of Wisconsin Public Health Institute: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps.

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2012 Rankings by County:
Health Outcomes, Factors, and News Coverage

Statewide News Coverage

County Health Rankings compare counties in each state
(KARE-Minneapolis)
Getting past the health numbers. Here's help
(Minnesota Public Radio: Ground Level blog)
Health rankings: Steele, Olmsted rank high; Cass, Beltrami struggle
(Minnesota Public Radio)
New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access
(Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)

Outc.	Fact.	County and News Coverage (click icon to expand)
36	75	Aitkin 2012 report ranking county health recently released (PDF: 229KB / 1 page) (McGregor Voyageur Press)
38	51	Anoka
71	67	Becker
77	84	Beltrami Beltrami, Cass rank low in state's health (PDF: 19KB / 1 page) (Bemidji Pioneer)
55	45	Benton
30	6	Big Stone New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
29	42	Blue Earth Most area counties rank high in health outcome study (Mankato Free Press)
17	27	Brown Brown County has health babies, high clinical care (New Ulm Journal) Report shows how Brown County ranks in health factors (Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch) Study ranks MN counties for health (KEYC-Mankato)
63	44	Carlton County Health Rankings (WDIO-Duluth) Report shows link between health and wealth, St. Louis County officials say (Duluth News Tribune)
2	2	Carver New health report ranks county No. 2 in state (Chanhassen Villager) Report shows link between health and wealth, St. Louis County officials say (Duluth News Tribune)
84	81	Cass Beltrami, Cass rank low in state's health (PDF: 19KB / 1 page) (Bemidji Pioneer)
14	57	Chippewa
56	48	Chisago County health rank remaining steady, in middle (Chisago County Press)
64	22	Clay
15	83	Clearwater Beltrami, Cass rank low in state's health (PDF: 19KB / 1 page) (Bemidji Pioneer)
42	28	Cook County Health Rankings (WDIO-Duluth) Report shows link between health and wealth, St. Louis County officials say (Duluth News Tribune)
76	26	Cottonwood
62	59	Crow Wing
8	8	Dakota
31	31	Dodge Steele County healthiest in Minnesota (KAAL-Austin)
4	15	Douglas Douglas County tops the charts after health study (PDF: 25KB / 1 page) (KSAX-Alexandria)
65	68	Faribault
5	40	Fillmore
66	70	Freeborn County ranks 66th for health (Albert Lea Tribune) Steele County healthiest in Minnesota (KAAL-Austin)
53	24	Goodhue Goodhue County's health ranking leaves room for improvement (Red Wing Republican Eagle) New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
70	41	Grant New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
52	30	Hennepin
16	18	Houston
41	60	Hubbard Beltrami, Cass rank low in state's health (PDF: 19KB / 1 page) (Bemidji Pioneer)
39	63	Isanti
60	61	Itasca
6	7	Jackson Health rankings surge in mental health, mammograms (Jackson County Pilot) Public health plays important part (Jackson County Pilot)
50	79	Kanabec
35	55	Kandiyohi
NR	NR	Kittson
58	73	Koochiching
12	21	Lac qui Parle
79	35	Lake Report shows link between health and wealth, St. Louis County officials say (Duluth News Tribune)
NR	NR	Lake of the Woods
9	49	Le Sueur New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
22	39	Lincoln New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
75	33	Lyon
83	82	Mahnomen
11	46	Marshall New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
45	36	Martin
3	25	McLeod
25	43	Meeker
73	80	Mille Lacs
78	76	Morrison
46	58	Mower Mower County drops in state's annual health rankings (Austin Daily Herald) Steele County healthiest in Minnesota (KAAL-Austin)
49	13	Murray
18	4	Nicollet Study ranks MN counties for health (KEYC-Mankato)
44	54	Nobles
81	62	Norman New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
23	1	Olmsted MPR's Liz Baier checks in from southeastern Minnesota (Minnesota Public Radio) Olmsted County drops in health ranking (Rochester Post-Bulletin) Olmsted County slips in health rankings (PDF: 25KB / 1 page) (KXLT-Rochester)
27	56	Otter Tail
34	38	Pennington
57	78	Pine
82	23	Pipestone
54	71	Polk Study: Want a long, healthy life? Where you live makes a difference (Grand Forks Herald)
26	10	Pope
61	69	Ramsey
37	74	Red Lake New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
43	34	Redwood
59	65	Renville
32	17	Rice New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog) Study: Rice County's health ranking worsens (Northfield Patch)
74	11	Rock
51	32	Roseau
10	5	Scott Study ranks Scott County 10th healthiest in state (Shakopee Patch)
28	50	Sherburne Health Rankings reported (Elk River Star News)
19	52	Sibley
72	64	St. Louis County Health Rankings (WDIO-Duluth) New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog) Report shows link between health and wealth, St. Louis County officials say (Duluth News Tribune)
33	20	Stearns
1	29	Steele Steele County healthiest in Minnesota (KAAL-Austin)
78	12	Stevens
40	53	Swift
67	77	Todd
NR	NR	Traverse
47	9	Wabasha
80	66	Wadena
24	47	Waseca
7	3	Washington Washington County ranks 7th healthiest in Minnesota, study says (Oakdale Patch)
68	72	Watonwan Most area counties rank high in health outcome study (Mankato Free Press)
21	14	Wilkin 2012 County Health Rankings released (Wahpeton Daily News)
20	37	Winona New report ranks MN counties on healthy food access (Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide blog)
13	16	Wright
69	19	Yellow Medicine Yellow Medicine County on track financially (Marshall Independent)