State Health Rankings: McHenry County Residents Among Healthiest in Illinois

McHenry County residents are among the healthiest in the nation, according to recently released County Health Rankings. 

The report, which looks at a variety of health factors for counties throughout the nation, ranked McHenry County the fifth healthiest among the 102 counties in Illinois. The report was released Tuesday by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

 when McHenry County ranked fourth in the state. 

“The County Health Rankings show us that much of what influences our health happens outside of the doctor’s office. In fact, where we live, learn, work and play has a big role in determining how healthy we are and how long we live,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in a press release. 

Some of the factors taken into consideration for the rankings include how many fast food restaurants are in the county, levels of physical inactivity among residents and mortality rates, according to a McHenry County Health Department press release.

Other factors include percentage of children living in poverty; obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and excessive drinking rates; and percentage of residents unemployed and uninsured. 

“Local health departments are part of a larger public health system.  The Rankings help support important work that is going on already in McHenry County, every day”, says Patrick J. McNulty, Public Health Administrator for MCDH.

Several nearby counties in the Chicagoland area ranked in the top ten in the County Health Rankings, including Kendall County which ranked first among Illinois counties.

DuPage County ranked third in the state, Kane County ranked eighth and Lake County ranked ninth in the state. 

“Even though we ranked among the best in the state, the rankings reveal areas where we can improve," ” said Paul Kuehnert, Kane County Health Department Executive Director, in a press relesae. 

Hardin County, a small county located in southern Illinois, ranked the least healthiest county in the state. 

The counties are ranked through several health outcomes and health factors. McHenry County received a ranking of fifth for health outcomes and seventh for health factors. 

The county ranked fourth for mortality, 20th for morbidity or how healthy the feel, fourth for health behaviors, 29th for clinical care and seventh for social and economic factors and 60th for physical environment.

View our chart below for more detailed information on the Health Rankings or visit The County Health Rankings' website. 

“We hope the County Health Rankings spur all sectors – government, business, community and faith-based groups, education and public health – to work together on solutions that address barriers to good health and help all residents lead healthier lives," McNully said in the press release. 

Chart: County Health Rankings

While several collar counties of Chicago ranked in the top ten among the healthiest counties in the state, obesity and physical inactivity rates hovered around 25 percent for residents in many of those counties. 

Ranked the unhealthiest in the state, 31 percent of children in Hardin County — a small county in southern Illinois — are in poverty, 42 percent live in single-parent households and the obesity rate is at 30 percent.