Dallas and Sioux are Iowa's healthiest counties
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Dallas and Sioux counties are among Iowa's healthiest, according to an annual report released today by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Why it matters: Life expectancy of residents in those counties is longer compared to those that ranked among the least healthy.
Catch up fast: The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps assesses communities on dozens of health factors that help determine length and quality of life, like access to health care.
- Its reports go back more than a decade and often draw connections between social policies, laws and health.
The intrigue: This year's report highlights how counties with more access to information via local news, broadband internet and public libraries are generally among the healthiest.
- People there have higher rates of civic participation and tend to live longer, per the report.
State of play: Many of Iowa's outcomes stayed relatively steady, including the percent of adults who report being in poor or fair health — 13%, up a percentage point from last year.
- Contributing factors such as physical inactivity and sexually transmitted infections were also up slightly.
By the numbers: Sioux retained its top spot in health outcomes this year among Iowa's 99 counties. Dallas was second, up one spot from the previous year.
- Polk Ranked 64th, up from 69.
- Lee ranked 98th and Clarke 99th this year.
Zoom in: Life expectancy in Sioux and Dallas was more than 82 years, while it was less than 75 in Lee and Clarke.
- Polk's is about 78 years.
Between the lines: Opportunity and wealth are factors.
- The median household income of Sioux and Dallas counties is among the highest, between $76K and $109K respectively.
- Dallas County is the home of growing communities like Waukee and West Des Moines. Sioux is home to Orange City — a small, conservative Dutch town that's benefited from young adults choosing to stay rather than leave, unlike other rural communities.
The other side: Lee and Clarke's was $56K or less, in the bottom half of the state, the report shows.
The big picture: Reviewing individual factors and how they have changed over time is more important than county ranking, Sandra Burke, a research scientist with Iowa State University's Indicators Program told Axios in 2022.
- The data is intended to help communities diagnose core problems and implement solutions, authors wrote in this year's report.