Health Rankings Connected to Income, Teen Birth Rate

A report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released Thursday found Montgomery County to be Maryland's healthiest jurisdiction and Baltimore City the least healthy. Public health experts have long known that wealthier areas are likely to be healthier than poorer areas.

In Maryland, there is a strong correlation between median household income and overall health of the population in a given county. In the graphic below, counties in the upper right, like Montgomery, are rich and healthy, while Baltimore city at the lower left is poorer and less healthy.

By Paul Pierre-Louis

CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE

A high rate of teens having children is also strongly connected with the overall health of a county. As with Baltimore city in the upper left of the graphic below, less healthy areas are likely to have higher teen birth rates.