Using data to tell the story of health by place

Where a person lives should never determine how long and how well they live. Yet, it often does.

Data and maps reveal patterns of health across the country and communicate differences in the opportunities for everyone to live long and live well. The 2025 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R) data are now available in the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, an online collection of geographic information including place-based datasets and interactive maps. CHR&R data layers from 2018 to 2025 have been viewed more than 4.4 million times and have been included in ArcGIS web maps to illustrate patterns in national, state and county data. In the Living Atlas, users can:

• search for “County Health Rankings” to find CHR&R data by publication year to explore maps and other content;
• combine CHR&R data with local datasets to create maps that uncover patterns and spark important conversations;
• create maps to visualize available measures;
• bring county-level health data into spatial analysis workflows; and,
• explore how opportunities for health vary by place. 

Our 2025 report, Building power for health and equity, offers examples of CHR&R data in map form to show how rules and power have shaped the conditions for health across the U.S. The report illustrates how regions such as the Black Belt, Appalachia, Native tribal lands and counties along the southern border lack sufficient access to the community conditions needed for good health.

The availability of affordable housing, well-resourced education, and fair working conditions are determined by worldviews and societal priorities, political budgets and institutional decision-making processes. The report presents multiple datasets in ArcGIS StoryMaps to give readers a guided experience through place-based patterns of health within historical and structural contexts.

Health doesn’t just happen by chance. Opportunities for health are influenced by those in power, who can determine the structure of our society. CHR&R data can help uncover where barriers to health exist. Jump into the data and let us know how we can help you build your community into a place where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to thrive.