After a slip in 2017, Marin County has been deemed the healthiest county in the state, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, which compares health and longevity for counties’ residents within each state and nationwide. For the ninth time in 10 years Marin scored highest withinCalifornia for life expectancy, with San Mateo and Santa Clara counties close behind.
Marin also received the state’s highest scores for Length of Life and Clinical Care. Length of life is partially assessed by a premature death metric; in this regard the county’s score was the third lowest of any in the nation. However, housing affordability, income inequality, high rates of substance use and racial disparities in health were noted as weaknesses: among 58 California counties, Marin ranked 39th in residents’ housing cost burden, 54th in income inequality and 48th in high rates of binge drinking. The results also show Marin’s African American and Latino children are four and eight times more likely, respectively, to live in poverty than their white counterparts. Another area of concern was Marin’s aging population — the oldest of any in the state. It’s estimated a third of our residents will be 60 or older by 2030.
