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The national “County Health Rankings” are released by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, around this time each year. As a program supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the rankings use comparable data on factors related to human health, for  ranking counties from best to worst.

Chisago County has seen a steady increase in its ranking from being in the lower third  to ending up in 2022, placed at number 20 from the top, of Minnesota’s 87 counties.

Exactly how this positive gain is being achieved is hard to pin down.  One thing the researchers have learned is some initiatives take a long time to manifest in data.  And, the rankings are “relative” within each state.  Worst case scenario could be that the other counties in Minnesota are losing ground so Chisago looks better.

Researchers explain that the data is put in a multi-year context to try to even out  any highs and lows.  Still, “health” remains an elusive thing to attribute to any single policy or one approach and it clearly is an accumulative outcome.  The multitude of what makes an impact can be dizzying— did Chisago County’s data improve because there are bike trails for healthy activity, do the early education programs show up eventually in graduation rates, can some credit go to meals and backpack food programs for youngsters? Were middle school health fairs productive or maybe providing community gardens had some impact?  Even access to broadband internet is considered in the rankings because it enhances use of tele-health and provides access to knowledge.  Chisago County has the good fortune to be home to a number of healthcare provider facilities and this results in a good ratio of physician availability to population.

Then, in a new twist for 2022  the rankings crew at the university’s population health institute  added another piece to the health puzzle.

The element is “civic health.”  

The experts say a good participation rate by citizens in the local decision-making processes —plus lots of opportunity to be engaged socially—  lead to high voter turnout and volunteering levels.  Or, is it the other way around? 

 The point is “meaningful involvement” in a community is a factor in the population’s health.  Voter turnout numbers here are good. Existence of social and civic organizations is plentiful.  Libraries report good checkout numbers and community room use head counts.

Another side of the rankings’ useful data illustrates Chisago County still has work to do:  

The percentage of citizens who say they smoke is still higher than the state average (17 compared to 14 percent)

Adult obesity information collected by healthcare providers shows 35 percent obesity in Chisago County versus 31 percent statewide.

Excessive drinking being acknowledged is 23 percent of those assessed versus 22 percent statewide.

Vaccinations are fewer here at 49 percent than Minnesota’s average at 57 percent complete.  

We still have 8 percent of local children living in poverty.

One public drinking water system violated general standards,  which for the rankings study is one too many.

The “long” commute, that many residents report doing alone, is held against Chisago County.  Statewide the lone long haul into the workplace is done by 31 percent overall in the measurements,  but it’s claimed by 54 percent of Chisago County commuters. 

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