Several North Central Florida counties ranked low on a counties health report Wednesday.
Union Countyranked as the least healthy among Florida's 67 counties. Putnam was third worst, followed by Baker.
Other North Central Florida counties ranked as follows:
- Dixie ranked No. 62
- Bradford ranked No. 59
- Columbia ranked No. 55
- Suwannee ranked No. 53
- Hernando ranked No. 50
- Levy ranked No. 49
- Duval ranked No. 45
- Citrus ranked No. 44
- Marion ranked No. 41
- Lafayette ranked No. 39
- Gilchrist ranked No. 33
St. Johns County ranked first in the state. Only Clay County graced the top ten at No. 7. Alachua County ranked No. 17.
Counties were compared using factors including smoking, high school graduation rates and employment, according to the report.
The least healthy counties have twice as many residents die prematurely, teen births and children living in poverty compared to the healthiest counties, according to the report.