These Are The 5 Healthiest States In The Country

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Where you live matters a great deal when it comes to your health and well-being, and certain states definitely fare better than others.

The United Health Foundation just released America’s Health Rankings, the 28th annual report assessing the nation’s health on a state-by-state basis. The analysis looks beyond illness and disease statistics and evaluates personal behaviors, community and environmental factors, local policies and health outcomes data to create comprehensive pictures of health. And after taking all factors into consideration, the report deemed Massachusetts the healthiest of our 50 states.

This is the first time in five years that any state has beat out Hawaii for the top spot (which secured second place this year) and the first time in the history of the report that Massachusetts snagged first place. The New England state has the best access to healthcare professionals (primary care, psychiatric and dental) across the country. It’s also home to the lowest percentages of uninsured citizens —  just 2.7 percent. Its obesity rates are significantly low as well.

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After Massachusetts and Hawaii, Vermont, Utah and Connecticut snagged the final three spots in the top five. And we have to say, we’re surprised to find states like Colorado missing from this list.

On the other hand, we’re not so surprised to see that Mississippi has the greatest room for improvement in overall health, followed by Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and West Virginia. The bottom four ranked the same as in last year’s report.

For the nation as a whole, the rankings reveal that we have a few worrisome mortality trends to address as a collective. This year, the United States saw 3 percent more premature deaths and 2 percent more cardiovascular-related deaths than 2015, and a whopping 7 percent more drug-related deaths than 2016. What’s more, even the higher-ranking states struggle with these numbers. Massachusetts has noticed a large increase in their drug problem and Utah has experienced one of the largest increases in cardiovascular-related deaths since 2012.

If you’re curious about how your home state performed this year or want to learn more about America’s health report card overall, take a look at the report’s extensive findings. There’s a lot we can take away from this data.