Olmsted top MN county in one health category, 17th in other

The annual County Health Rankings are out and they show Olmsted County was the top county in Minnesota

in the category of Health Factors the study looked at. These include health, social and economic factors such as income, education, obesity, smoking, clinical care and environmental issues. Washington County was second on the list. Wabasha and Houston counties were two others from southeast Minnesota that made the top ten. The study uses the various health factors to determine how healthy a county will be in the future.

The Health Outcomes portion of the study ranked Carver County as tops in the state, followed by McLeod. The study defines Health Outcomes as the current health of a county. Olmsted was ranked 17th in that category. The study - now in its 5th year -
is conducted by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.