Taking the temperature
2 San Antonio-area counties weigh in among country's healthiest, says U.S. News

For babies and baby boomers alike, Kendall County and Comal County stand out among the healthiest counties in the U.S. According to a new study by U.S. News & World Report, Kendall and Comal County came in at No. 91 and No. 453, respectively, on its list of the 500 healthiest counties in the country.
U.S. News assessed 2,735 of the 3,143 counties across the U.S. but ranked only 500 of them. The healthiest county in Texas was Dallas neighbor Collin County, which landed at No. 50 nationally.
For the study, U.S. News examined 89 metrics across 10 categories tied to health:
- Community health
- Health, income, education, and social equity
- Education
- Economy
- Housing
- Food and nutrition
- Environment
- Public safety
- Community vitality
- Infrastructure
Kendall County earned its highest score in the community vitality category (91); its lowest score was in the environment category (46). Data published by U.S. News highlights Kendall County’s health status. For instance:
- The typical life expectancy is 81.6 years, compared with 77.5 years nationwide and 79.2 years statewide.
- The smoking rate is 13.5 percent, compared with 20 percent nationwide and 15.5 percent statewide.
- The obesity prevalence is 31.3 percent, compared with 36.2 percent nationwide; diabetes prevalence is 9.4 percent, compared with 10.4 percent nationwide.
Comal County earned its highest score in the community vitality category (83) and its lowest score in the environment (43). Other highlights for Comal County include:
- The typical life expectancy is 79.7 years.
- The smoking rate is 14.2 percent.
- The obesity prevalence was 33.1 percent; diabetes prevalence is 9.9 percent.
Other Texas counties that fared well in the U.S. News study are:
- No. 70 Rockwall County (Dallas). Its highest score was in the economy category (87), and its lowest score was in the housing category (54).
- No. 121 Williamson County (Austin) earned its highest score in the economy category (93); its lowest score was in the housing category (52).
- No. 180 Denton County (Dallas-Fort Worth). Its highest score was in the economy category (88), and its lowest score was in the housing category (43).
- No. 291 Fort Bend County (Houston). No. 291. Its highest score was in the economy category (90); its lowest score was in the environment category (25).
- No. 295 Travis County (Austin) earned its highest score in the infrastructure category (92) and its lowest score in the equity category (41).