Santa Clara County Among Top Locations For Mental Health: Report

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Santa Clara County is among the top five counties in the country for population health and mental health, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s fourth annual Healthiest Communities rankings.

The survey ranked more than 3,000 communities nationwide on data analyzing COVID-19’s impact on community health, mental health and health equity.

Santa Clara County ranked fourth in the mental health subcategory, one spot ahead of neighboring San Mateo County. Honolulu County (Hawaii), Pitkin County (Colorado) and Fairfax County (Virginia) made up the top three spots. Santa Clara County also ranked fifth in overall population health, which includes measures of access to care, health behaviors, health conditions and more.

The survey analyzed three statistics to measure a community’s mental health standing: deaths of despair, number of medicare beneficiaries with depression and adults with frequent mental distress.

The report found that counties with more educated and higher-earning populations, such as those with a high number of advanced degree holders or higher median income, tended to perform better on mental health measures. Counties with poor mental health measures were strongly associated with lack of leisure-time physical activity and prevalence of heart disease and diabetes.

“The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted deep wounds on multiple aspects of a community’s well-being — from which it will take time to recover. A county’s population health metrics, including mental health, health outcomes and access to care, have been adversely affected, along with major hits to education, economy and equity,” said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News. “This year’s Healthiest Communities rankings name not only the leading counties in the country, but also produce data reflecting other predictors of individual and community health as the country begins to recover. ”

Santa Clara County also ranked 40th overall in the healthiest community rankings, joining Placer County (No. 35), San Mateo County (No. 43) and Marin County (No. 49) in the top 50.

View the full report from U.S. News & World Report here.