Survey: Prince William County Ranks 11th Healthiest

According to a new survey released Tuesday, Prince William County is the 11th healthiest county in Virginia.

The survey, 2012 County HealthRankings, produced by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ranks the health of counties in all 50 states according to how healthy people are and how long they live. 

Northern Virginia fared well in the study, with ranking first, and Loudoun County coming in third. 

Prince William County has an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent, compared to a national rate of 5.4 percent and a statewide rate of 6.9 percent. Petersburg City, which is about 25 miles south of Richmond and came in last in the survey, has an unemployment rate of 13 percent.

Mortality rates counted for 50 percent of the ranking. Out of 379,166 people in PWC, a little over 5,000 die before age 75, according to the rankings. 

By the Numbers

How did Prince William County, Manassas Park and Manassas City fare in years past?

2010

• Prince William County ranked 10th in the survey
• Manassas Park eight
• Manassas City ranked ninth

2011

• Prince William County ranked 11th
• Manassas Park ranked 12th
• Manassas City ranked ninth

2012

• Prince William County ranked 11th
• Manassas Park ranked 12th
• Manassas City ranked 13th

Bad Rankings for PWC

• Prince William County residents are overweight: 27 percent of the county is considered obese (a body mass index of greater than 30), according to the survey, which relied mainly on federal government reports for its information. Virginia's counties average 28 percent and rank anywhere from 19 percent to 39 percent on the obesity scale.

• Prince William also has a lot of fast food—56 percent of all of its restaurants, according to the study. The national average is 25 percent and the state average is 50 percent.
• Prince William County has a high violent crime rate of 174 verses a 252 statewide rate. The national rate is 73. Violent crime is represented by the study as an annual rate per 100,000 population. Violent crimes are defined as offenses that involve face-to-face confrontation between the victim and the perpetrator, including homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.