Cherokee County ranked 47th out of 67 counties in Alabama in a recent nationwide health study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

According to the website of the organization that conducted the study, the County Health Rankings “show us that where we live matters to our health. The health of a community depends on many different factors – ranging from individual health behaviors, education and jobs, to quality of health care, to the environment.”

The collection of 50 reports – one per state – was conducted to help community leaders “see that where we live, learn, work, and play influences how healthy we are and how long we live,” the website stated.

Counties across the nation were ranked according to summaries of a variety of health measures, including health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.

The study showed that Cherokee County received its highest ranking in the social and economic category, coming in 24th in the state. The county's rate of high school graduation (65 percent) was close to the state's overall average of 67 percent, but far below the nationwide average (92 percent).

The study found that 27 percent of children in Cherokee County live below the poverty level, which was slightly above the average for Alabama (22 percent) and far above the nationwide average of 11 percent. On a more positive note, the county's average number of children in single-parent households (26 percent) was well below the statewide average (36 percent).

The county also performed well in the physical environment category by matching the statewide average of eight recreational locations and achieving a below-average air pollution rating.

The county faired more poorly in the clinical care category. The number of uninsured adults, at 19 percent, was above both the state (17 percent) and national (13 percent) averages. The county also had a steep ratio of primary care providers, with one for every 2,219 residents. The Alabama average was 952:1, while the national average was lower still, at 631:1.

The health behavior area where Cherokee County measured up worst was teen pregnancy rate, which was 67 percent compared to a statewide average of 53 percent and a national average of 22 percent.

The full report of the county's rank in the health study is available at www.countyhealthrankings.org.