Etienne Note: New Hampshire is the State where the Free State Project is located, and if you follow our recurring column: libertarian Intentional Community Roundup in our Five Meme Friday newsletter, you would already know it leads the country in almost every metric. Lowest murder rate, lowest # of children living in poverty, highest incomes, etc. The trend continues!
“Blue Zones” are regions of the world where people live longer and healthier lives, supported by habits that boost longevity.
Loma Linda, California is one of the few recognized Blue Zones, alongside Okinawa, Japan and Ikaria, Greece.
Just as place can have a powerful influence on health outcomes, differences vary meaningfully across America.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows the healthiest U.S. states, based on data from America’s Health Rankings Report by the UnitedHealth Foundation.
The Northeast Produces America’s Healthiest States
For the analysis, states were measured on 99 indicators such as economic hardship, smoking rates, and mortality rates. Overall values were measured in z-scores, with a score of 0 representing the national average.
The small state of New Hampshire leads the nation with a score of 0.99.
The state’s social and economic factors—seeing the lowest food insecurity, homicide rates, and highest high school completion—drive health outcomes. Additionally, it ranks among the top five in indicators like exercise rates and fruit and vegetable consumption.
As we can see, the Northeastern states of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut all follow next in line.
Utah, ranking in fifth, stands as a regional outlier. Notably, it ranks first nationally across indicators including smoking rates and income inequality. However, factors such as low public health funding and a lack of primary care providers weigh on its ranking.
Interestingly, Kansas and Illinois, both Midwestern states, had health scores falling closest to the national average.
Where Are the Least Healthy States?
Southern states, by contrast, see the lowest scores in health nationwide. Louisiana, with a score of -0.94 ranked worst overall, followed by bordering states, Arkansas (-0.83), and Mississippi (-0.77).
Beyond economic hardship, these states see some of the nation’s highest homicide rates, severe income inequality, and low levels of physical activity. Together, this highlights how health outcomes are shaped by a web of social and economic conditions.
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on America’s most common drugs.
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The map is, of course, skewed by how it defines "health indicators." My home state is near the top, no doubt in part due to "public health expenditures" and "access to primary care" docs.
Yet in my experience, some of the healthest people avoid docs like the plague-- especially in the last 5 years.
The Mississippi delta and Texas. Oil and Gas/toxic underground waste wells (in the now crumbling salt domes underground). Poverty struck cancer allies. Don't eat the seafood.
Maryland is sick as shit because of deadly polluted Chesapeak Bay and industry. I think that score was higher because there's a lot of money there...