New Report Shows Just How Healthy We Are in Olmsted County

We like to think of ourselves as above-average here in southeast Minnesota, right? We're smart, we're helpful, we have great schools and a great quality of life here. But just how healthy are we?

Well, according to a new survey (and isn't there always some new survey coming out?) done by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, we're actually pretty darn healthy here in Olmsted County.

Their 9th annual County Health Rankings report was just released, and it looks at how we stack up compared to our fellow counties here in Minnesota and from across the country.

So how healthy are we? Well, not too bad. In fact, according to the survey, Olmsted County ranked 14th out of Minnesota's 87 counties. I'm no mathematician, but that puts us well into the top 20 percent of all counties here in the Land of 10,000. (I think. It's a good thing math skills weren't included-- and, thankfully, they didn't survey me).

Meanwhile, things are even better for our neighboring counties. The report listed Dodge County at #4 and Fillmore County at #8! That's pretty healthy if, you ask me.

The report said it looked at various factors when it compiled this year's ranking. "The rankings are guided by a model of population health that emphasizes the many social, economic, physical, clinical, and other factors that influence both how long and how well we live. They help communities understand the critical influence that education, jobs, income, environment, and more have on individual health," the report said.

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