Marin was named the healthiest county in California for the fifth consecutive year by collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Public Health Institute on March 26.
Marin was ranked first in the state in nine measures, including the lowest premature death rate, teen birth rate, violent crime rate, percent of children in poverty, and unemployment rate. Additionally, Marin had the highest high school graduation rate and percent of insured adults.
The survey attributed the fact that one-third of Marin residents live within walking distance of a park or preserve to its residents’ superior health.
Marin had the lowest rate of physical inactivity in the state.
Despite being ranked first, Marin was in the bottom 50 percent for excessive drinking rates, with nearly one in four adults confessing to binge drinking, defined by the survey as consuming at least four or five drinks in a single setting, in the last 30 days.
The county is also ranked in the bottom half of the state for the drug poisoning mortality rate, diabetic monitoring of Medicare enrollees, and the percentage of workers with a long commute.