Interactive Map of US County Public Health Statistics

A new website called County Health Rankings analyzes public health statistics for each county in the US, creating state-by-state reports of the healthiest counties.  The website, a joint project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, analyzes healh factors (statistics about disease incidence, tobacco use, etc.) and health outcomes (such as life expectancy) to create county-by-county rankings of each state.  These rankings are then mapped for each state, using Flash-based Fusion Maps software (not free/open source) so that users can drill down to access county-level data.

The maps themselves are actually static - the data (which is available for download in spreadsheet form) isn't updated "automagically" and there is no "live" integration with other sites or services: this isn't a mashup, at least not in the dynamic sense.  The state maps are choropleths, divided into quartiles, and the main use of the mapping feature is to provide a state-level at-a-glance view of the data.  In addition, the map interface is used for navigation, as an alternative to tables of data sorted alphabetically or by a certain value, so users can drill down to county-level statistics.  Users can view a state "health factors" map or a state "health outcomes" map, but not the data that comprise these aggregate rankings - in other words, you can't view a state "tobacco use" or "access to healthcare" thematic map, just the two maps generated by the report.  Another interesting enhancement would be the capability of users to adjust the weighting algorithm to suit their own preferences.

In addition to the maps, the site also has a "take action" section, with links to toolkits and resources for public health organizations working on specific issue campaigns, e.g., tobacco use prevention or healthcare access.