Butler County ranked as 250th healthiest county in U.S., fifth-healthiest in Pa.
According to a survey recently released by U.S. News and World Report, Butler County is the 250th healthiest county in the United States, and the fifth healthiest in Pennsylvania.
The survey ranked each county, or county-equivalent area, from one to 100 on 10 key health-related metrics. Butler County rated 70 in population health, 65 in equity, 65 in education, 69 in economy, 72 in housing, 72 in food and nutrition, 49 in environment, 62 in public safety, 60 in community vitality and 64 in infrastructure.
The county’s environment score was lower in large part due to its drinking water violation rate of 10.25 per 1,000 — nearly double the national average of 5.76 per 1,000.
The housing score was boosted by having a lower rate of vacant houses, 7%, compared to the national average of 17.6%.
Butler County’s ranking puts it behind Bucks (188th), Chester (84th), Cumberland (124th) and Montgomery (66th) counties, but ahead of Allegheny (321st), Westmoreland (476th), Adams (477th), Centre (478th), Delaware (442nd), Montour (325th) and Washington (376th).
A ranking of 250th-healthiest might not sound great, until you realize there are 3,243 counties in the United States and 67 in Pennsylvania. Only the top 500 counties received a ranking.
Ken DeFurio, president and CEO of Independence Health System, which includes Butler Memorial Hospital, pointed out the hospital’s part in the county’s ranking.
“Independence Health System, and legacy Butler Health System, have a long history of supporting community health and health improvement,” DeFurio said in a statement. “Examples range from world-class cardiovascular care to the Food Institute and a focus on social determinants of health. We are gratified to be among the top healthiest counties in the region and will continue our long-standing commitment toward the health and wellness of the community.”
Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel credited the high ratings in housing and population health in part to the presence of locally focused media entities and an “independent” local hospital in the form of Butler Memorial — independent in the sense that it is not owned by an insurance chain.
“We have an independent hospital, we have a newspaper and we have a radio station,” Boozel said. “Those are all signs of healthy communities.”
On the other hand, he blamed the low environment ranking on the fact that Butler County is a manufacturing county and has been for over a century.
“We are a manufacturing county. We have manufactured since the beginning of time, and today, we’re the largest manufacturing county in Pennsylvania,” Boozel said. “Along with that comes some health and environmental issues that we have to be concerned with. Having our own hospital here has really helped with that.”
The top-ranked county or county-equivalent area in the survey was Falls Church, Va., which is not part of a county.
