Of the four major counties of North Texas — Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton — Dallas has the lowest rankings on a new study comparing the health of all U.S. counties by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Collin County is ranked tops in “health factors” among all counties in the state, while Collin and Denton both rank among the top three counties for “health outcomes.” The study looks at things like smoking rate, obesity rate, and the ratio of liquor stores and fast-food joints to healthy-food outlets. The levels of wealth and poverty are also factors.
Dallas ranks No. 70 and No. 171 on the two Texas lists, while Tarrant County comes out much better, at No. 37 and No. 52.
Dallas also finishes behind the state’s other major metro areas, Harris and Bexar counties. (Though we’re slightly better than San Antonio on health outcomes, we’re well behind on health factors.)
