New ranking puts Spotsylvania, Stafford among state’s healthiest

The rankings for area localities varied widely.

Stafford and Spotsylvania county residents are among the healthiest in the state, according to the new “County Health Rankings,” published today by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Stafford ranked 15^th among Virginia’s 132 localities. Spotsylvania was 19^th.

“County Health Rankings, ” now in its second year, ranks the health of nearly every county in the nation. It uses more than two dozen measures to arrive at the rankings, including rates of adult smoking, adult obesity, drinking among adults, low-birth weights, number of uninsured adults, availability of primary care providers, preventable hospital stays, rates of high school graduation, adults who have attended college, children in poverty, access to healthy foods and air pollution levels.

The rankings for area localities are:

Stafford-15

Spotsylvania-19

Fauquier-22

King George-43

Orange-49

Caroline-57

Culpeper-61

Fredericksburg-113

The healthiest localities in the state are:

1. Fairfax County

2. Arlington

3. Loudoun

4. York

5. Albemarle

The least healthy localities are:

132. Emporia

131. Petersburg

130. Buchanan

129. Franklin

128. Richmond City

(The County Health Rankings web site can be found here.)

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