Kane County is this sixth healthiest place in the state of Illinois!

That’s the findings of this year’s County Health Rankings report, released this week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

The rankings are available at www.countyhealthrankings.org.

“The County Health Rankings demonstrate that Kane is one of the healthiest counties in the state, but we can also see that there remains much work to be done to get where we want to be,” said Barbara Jeffers, executive director of the Kane County Health Department. “The Rankings show us that where we live matters to our health. Even if we rank relatively high overall, we know that we can take steps to improve the health of all our residents.”

The rankings consider 102 counties in Illinois.

This year’s Kane County ranking follows a trend of improvement over the last four years. Last year, Kane ranked 7th, in 2017, 12th, and in 2016, 13th.

An easy-to-use snapshot that compares counties within states, the rankings show that where you live influences how well and how long you live.

Want to hear some more good news?

Kane County ranks fifth in the state in “Length of Life,” although that measurement might not be what you think it is. This is data primarily based on “Years of Potential Life Lost,” a widely used measure of the rate and distribution of premature mortality.

We’re No. 18 in “Quality of Life,” a measure of the percentage of adults reporting fair or poor health, mentally or physically.

Kane is No. 30 in the category of Social and Economic Factors. This is a combination of high school graduation rate, unemployment, the number of children in poverty, the number of children in single-parent households, violent crime and injury deaths.

Considering that Kane County contains the second-largest city in Illinois (Aurora) as well as high-ranking population centers. Cook County, by contrast, is 52nd in the overall health ranking and 72nd in Social an Economic Factors.

While Jeffers was pleased by Kane County’s overall ranking, she acknowledges that there is still a lot of work to do.

The Kane County Community Health Improvement Plan identifies three health priorities chosen by the county residents. The priorities are Chronic Disease, Behavioral Health and Income and Education.

The Income and Education priority recognizes the importance of socio-economic conditions and their effects on peoples’ health.

For more information regarding the CHIP and to learn more about CHIP data platform, please visit www.kanehealthcounts.org. The rankings website also contains a wealth of data regarding the health of Kane County residents www.countyhealthrankings.org.

About the Health Rankings

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Based on data available for each county, the rankings are unique in their ability to measure the overall health of each county in all 50 states on the many factors that influence health, and they have been used to garner support among government agencies, healthcare providers, community organizations, business leaders, policymakers, and the public for local health improvement initiatives.

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