Health Profile of Cook County, Illinois
Cook County Health Score
The Map AI Health Index is a score that reflects local life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and physical environment to help you quickly compare the overall health and well-being of different areas.
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B
Cook County Around averageHealthier than 71% of counties in Illinois
Source: Map AI Methodology
General Health Overview
| Metric | Cook County | Illinois Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life Expectancy (years) | 77.8 | 77.9 | 78.3 |
| Uninsured Population (%) | 8.9% | 6.9% | 8.4% |
| Self-Rated Poor Health | 15.9% | 15.6% | 16.3% |
Life expectancy in Cook County is 77.8 years, about 0.1 years shorter than the Illinois average of 77.9 years. The uninsured rate is 8.9%, higher than the Illinois average of 6.9%. Self-rated poor health is reported by 15.9% of residents, higher than the Illinois average of 15.6%.
Population by Age
Older residents
1,711,406 residents in Cook County are age 50 or older.
- 85+ 102,774 34,325 men · 68,448 women
- 75–84 230,261 94,650 men · 135,612 women
- 65–74 434,785 195,355 men · 239,430 women
- 50–64 943,586 461,642 men · 481,945 women
Younger residents
1,059,565 residents in Cook County are age 17 or younger.
- 12–17 328,337 167,707 boys · 160,630 girls
- 7–12 309,936 158,575 boys · 151,361 girls
- 3–7 240,178 122,642 boys · 117,537 girls
- 0–3 181,114 92,309 boys · 88,805 girls
About 255,473 residents in Cook County (4.9% of the population) are older than the area's life expectancy of 77.8 years.
The highlighted slice of the age axis is the share of residents older than the life-expectancy mark.
Disease Prevalence
| Disease / Condition | Cook County | Illinois Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes | 10.6% | 10.7% | 11.3% |
| Cancer | 5.4% | 7.1% | 6.9% |
| Heart Diseases | 5.2% | 7.1% | 7.1% |
| Adult Obesity | 31.0% | 36.1% | 34.3% |
The rate of heart disease in Cook County is about 26% lower than in Illinois. The rate of cancer in Cook County is about 24% lower than in Illinois.
Health Behaviors
| Behavior | Cook County | Illinois Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smokers | 14.7% | 19.2% | 19.0% |
| Binge Drinking | 14.0% | 14.9% | 16.5% |
| Sedentary Lifestyle | 27.0% | 26.3% | 25.1% |
The rate of smoking in Cook County is about 23% lower than in Illinois.
Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 6.0 million cigarettes a day, 180.5 million a month, or 2.2 billion a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 66.2 million minutes a day and 24.2 billion a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Cook County is 77.8 years, that's roughly equivalent to 1.62 lifetimes a day, or 590 lifetimes a year.
* Source: Shaw M, Mitchell R, Dorling D. "Time for a smoke? One cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes." BMJ. 2000;320:53.
Illustrative only. This is not an estimate of how many people actually die from smoking each day or year - it's a rough, order-of-magnitude comparison meant to help grasp the scale of smoking in this area. We take no responsibility for any decisions made based on this figure.
Air Quality
| Metric | Cook County | Illinois Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Pollution (μg/m³) | 8.28 | 7.63 | 6.09 |
With an annual average of 8.3 µg/m³ of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), air quality in Cook County is good — generally safe air quality for the vast majority of residents.
Cook County, IL Health Compared With Nearby Counties
Cook County, IL is the largest of the 6 counties compared here, 5,180,889 residents against a local median of 701,595. Where Cook County, IL breaks from the counties next to it is uninsured, sitting 54% above the local median of 5.7% at 8.9%. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
The counties themselves sit within 1.7% of each other on uninsured, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Cook County, IL, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Cook County, IL has the 6th lowest uninsured of the 6 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | Life expectancy | Uninsured | Obesity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County, IL | 5,180,889 | 77.8 yrs #4/6 | 8.9% #6/6 | 31.0% #3/6 |
| Lake County, IL | 714,026 | 80.2 yrs | 6.9% | 30.9% |
| DuPage County, IL | 929,812 | 81.3 yrs | 5.2% | 28.3% |
| Lake County, IN | 498,291 | 75.2 yrs | 6.6% | 42.8% |
| Will County, IL | 701,595 | 78.5 yrs | 5.2% | 36.4% |
| Kenosha County, WI | 168,436 | 77.6 yrs | 5.7% | 36.1% |
Conclusion
Considering all these factors, Cook County, Illinois has an overall health index grade of B, making it somewhat better than Illinois, and somewhat better than the country as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about health in Cook County, Illinois.
What is the health grade for Cook County, Illinois?
Cook County, Illinois has a Map AI Health Index grade of B, based on life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment; a B grade means residents are somewhat healthier than the U.S. average.
Is Cook County, Illinois one of the healthiest counties in Illinois?
Cook County ranks 30th healthiest out of 102 counties in Illinois by the Map AI Health Index, which measures life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment.
What is the average lifespan in Cook County, Illinois?
People in Cook County, Illinois can expect to live 77.8 years on average, about the same as the Illinois average of 77.9.
What percentage of Cook County, Illinois residents are uninsured?
8.9% of residents in Cook County, Illinois have no health insurance, about 1 in 11 people, 2.0 points above the Illinois rate of 6.9%.
What percentage of Cook County, Illinois residents are obese?
31.0% of adults in Cook County, Illinois are classified as obese, about 1 in 3, 5.1 points below the Illinois rate of 36.1%.
How many cigarettes do smokers in Cook County, Illinois go through, and how much life does that cost?
Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 6.0 million cigarettes a day, 180.5 million a month, or 2.2 billion a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 66.2 million minutes a day and 24.2 billion a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Cook County is 77.8 years, that's roughly equivalent to 1.62 lifetimes a day, or 590 lifetimes a year.
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