The sixth-annual County Health Rankings are out from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. According to the rankings, Minnesota's Carver County was listed as the healthiest for the third consecutive year.

Rice County ranked 29th in health outcomes. However, if you want to have a long life, Rice County ranks 10th in the state. Carver County was tops in that category also. Criteria included life expectancy, clinical care, quality of life, health behaviors, social and economic factors, physical environment and more.

Despite having the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in their county, Olmsted County is 14th in life expectancy and 15th in overall health outcomes. The study says Minnesota has a lower rate of smoking, a lower rate of adult obesity, a lower rate of physical inactivity and a lower amount of teen births compared to the national average. However, the state had a higher rate of binge drinking and a higher rate of sexually transmitted infections than the national average.

According to the County Health Rankings, 10 percent of Rice County residents are uninsured. Just a bit higher than the 9 percent statewide rate. Rice County was also lower than the state average in excessive drinking (14 percent to 19 percent), smoking (10 percent to 16 percent) and about average in adult obesity (27 percent to 26 percent).

What appeared to bring Rice County down in the overall rankings was in the area of social and economic factors. The unemployment rate of 5.5 percent was higher than the state average of 5.1 percent; there are slightly more children living in single-parent households; and those with some college education (62 percent) is significantly lower than the statewide average (73.3 percent).

Here is a listing of the life expectancies for area counties:

Length of life

3. Scott
6. Le Seuer
8. Dakota
9. Waseca
10. Rice
14. Olmsted
16. Steele
20. Mower
22. Wabasha
23. Goodhue
26. Dodge
35. Blue Earth

Listing of total health outcomes

9. Le Seuer
12. Steele
13. Waseca
14. Dodge
15. Olmsted
17. Goodhue
19. Dakota
25. Wabasha
29. Rice
43. Mower

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