Montgomery County is one of the healthiest counties in the nation, according to a new report from County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute that assesses health disparities in communities.
According to the report, Montgomery County residents beat state and national averages for life expectancy, physical health and exercise participation. According to County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, data is compiled through a variety of local, state and national sources.
County residents live longer and are at lower risk for premature death, according to the report, which defines premature death as occurring at before age 75.
Only 11% of Montgomery County adults described themselves as being in poor or fair health, in contrast to a national average of 14%. County residents also reported an average of 2.6 days of poor physical health per month, while the national average is 3.3 days.
Sean O’Donnell, program administrator of public health emergency preparedness and response for the county Department of Health and Human Services, said during a media briefing Thursday that the data reflects the efforts of county officials to improve health outcomes, but that there is still work to be done.
“The rankings do highlight that there continue to be disparities within our populations within the county,” O’Donnell said. “That is work that we need to continue to address so that everyone in the county can have the same types of outcomes.”
Among the areas that need improvement, residents reported rates of poor mental health–4.4 poor mental health days a month–consistent with the national average.
The report also found shorter life spans for Black county residents, who were more at risk of premature death than all other races tracked in the data.
According to the national findings report, the data is intended to be a “call for action” for community and civic leaders to assess resources.
“The healthiest counties, where people live long and well, have well-resourced civic infrastructure, including a more accessible information environment (local news outlets, broadband access and public libraries), compared to counties among the least healthy,” the report said. “Counties with well-resourced civic infrastructure and accessible information environments also offer more social and economic opportunity for good health.”
Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large) praised the county’s ranking on social media.
“Thanks to our public health officials, residents live longer and have lower rates of unhealthy behaviors,” he posted. “Let’s continue to keep our communities healthy and strong.”