Harris County ranked 31st of 244 ranked counties in Texas, up three spots from 2022 report
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released its annual County Health Rankings Report, which evaluates the civic health and health equity progress of counties across the United States. Harris County is ranked 31st out of 244 ranked counties across Texas in 2023 – up from 34th in 2022.
The report examines the efficiency of U.S. counties to resource civic infrastructure and compares how counties rank in their impact on improving residents’ livelihoods. The purpose of the report is to provide a roadmap for U.S. counties to evaluate the ability to build and improve health outcomes for residents.
The report has two primary categories for its rankings, which are health outcomes and health factors. The data is separated into county, state, and national categories.
Harris County is ranked in the 75% – 100% group, which means we rank among the healthiest counties in Texas in terms of health outcomes. Health outcomes are defined by how healthy a county is in terms of length of life, but also the quality of life.
Harris County has improved from the 25% – 50% grouping of health factors to the 50% – 75% group, which means actions are being taken to improve the length and quality of life. The health factor categories include behavioral, clinical care access, social background, economic background, and the overall physical environment Harris County provides. Each health factor category shows several data points with county level data for race/ethnicity data, life expectancy, education, exercise habits, smoking, alcohol use, and more.
For more information, visit the County Health Ranking & Roadmap report.