Health Profile of Preston County, West Virginia
Preston 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.
-
C
Preston County Below averageHealthier than 74% of counties in West Virginia
Source: Map AI Methodology
General Health Overview
| Metric | Preston County | West Virginia Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life Expectancy (years) | 77.1 | 76.1 | 78.3 |
| Uninsured Population (%) | 7.9% | 6.0% | 8.4% |
| Self-Rated Poor Health | 20.7% | 23.2% | 16.3% |
Life expectancy in Preston County is 77.1 years, about 0.9 years longer than the West Virginia average of 76.1 years. The uninsured rate is 7.9%, higher than the West Virginia average of 6.0%. Self-rated poor health is reported by 20.7% of residents, lower than the West Virginia average of 23.2%.
Population by Age
Older residents
13,633 residents in Preston County are age 50 or older.
- 85+ 727 204 men · 523 women
- 75–84 1,920 916 men · 1,004 women
- 65–74 3,898 1,873 men · 2,025 women
- 50–64 7,088 3,702 men · 3,386 women
Younger residents
5,968 residents in Preston County are age 17 or younger.
- 12–17 1,889 956 boys · 933 girls
- 7–12 1,809 938 boys · 870 girls
- 3–7 1,321 690 boys · 631 girls
- 0–3 949 497 boys · 453 girls
About 2,160 residents in Preston County (6.3% of the population) are older than the area's life expectancy of 77.1 years.
The highlighted slice of the age axis is the share of residents older than the life-expectancy mark.
Disease Prevalence
| Disease / Condition | Preston County | West Virginia Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes | 13.1% | 14.5% | 11.3% |
| Cancer | 7.2% | 7.2% | 6.9% |
| Heart Diseases | 8.5% | 9.2% | 7.1% |
| Adult Obesity | 41.3% | 40.3% | 34.3% |
On average, diseases in Preston County are about the same as in West Virginia.
Health Behaviors
| Behavior | Preston County | West Virginia Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smokers | 24.1% | 25.3% | 19.0% |
| Binge Drinking | 12.8% | 11.9% | 16.5% |
| Sedentary Lifestyle | 28.3% | 31.8% | 25.1% |
On average, health behaviors in Preston County are about the same as in West Virginia.
Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 67,685 cigarettes a day, 2.0 million a month, or 24.7 million a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 744,536 minutes a day and 271.8 million a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Preston County is 77.1 years, that's roughly equivalent to 0.02 lifetimes a day, or 6.71 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 | Preston County | West Virginia Avg | US Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Pollution (μg/m³) | 5.67 | 6.17 | 6.09 |
With an annual average of 5.7 µg/m³ of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), air quality in Preston County is good — generally safe air quality for the vast majority of residents.
Preston County, WV Health Compared With Nearby Counties
Preston County, WV is the 3rd largest of the 6 counties compared here, 34,160 residents against a local median of 28,615. The measure that sets Preston County, WV apart most is uninsured: 7.9%, 48% above the local median of 5.3%. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
Obesity tells the same story from another angle: 41.3% against a local median of 35.2%, 17% above it. Every measure here with a clear better direction points the same way, and it is the wrong way: Preston County, WV reads weaker than its neighbours on all of them. The counties themselves sit within 1.6% of each other on uninsured, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Preston County, WV, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Preston County, WV has the 6th lowest uninsured of the 6 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | Life expectancy | Uninsured | Obesity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston County, WV | 34,160 | 77.1 yrs #4/6 | 7.9% #6/6 | 41.3% #5/6 |
| Tucker County, WV | 6,654 | 77.6 yrs | 5.3% | 38.5% |
| Garrett County, MD | 28,615 | 78.0 yrs | 6.2% | 33.3% |
| Taylor County, WV | 16,487 | 76.2 yrs | 5.1% | 42.4% |
| Monongalia County, WV | 107,163 | 77.7 yrs | 5.3% | 31.3% |
| Fayette County, PA | 125,964 | 76.3 yrs | 4.6% | 35.2% |
Conclusion
Considering all these factors, Preston County, West Virginia has an overall health index grade of C, making it somewhat better than West Virginia, and about on par with the country as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about health in Preston County, West Virginia.
Is Preston County, West Virginia a healthy place to live?
Preston County, West Virginia has a Map AI Health Index grade of C, based on life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment; a C grade means residents are close to the U.S. average.
Is Preston County, West Virginia one of the healthiest counties in West Virginia?
Preston County ranks 15th healthiest out of 55 counties in West Virginia by the Map AI Health Index, which measures life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment.
What is the life expectancy in Preston County, West Virginia?
People in Preston County, West Virginia can expect to live 77.1 years on average, 0.9 years longer than the West Virginia average of 76.1.
What is the uninsured rate in Preston County, West Virginia?
7.9% of residents in Preston County, West Virginia have no health insurance, about 1 in 13 people, 1.8 points above the West Virginia rate of 6.0%.
How common is obesity in Preston County, West Virginia?
41.3% of adults in Preston County, West Virginia are classified as obese, about 1 in 2, 1.0 points above the West Virginia rate of 40.3%.
How many cigarettes do smokers in Preston County, West Virginia go through, and how much life does that cost?
Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 67,685 cigarettes a day, 2.0 million a month, or 24.7 million a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 744,536 minutes a day and 271.8 million a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Preston County is 77.1 years, that's roughly equivalent to 0.02 lifetimes a day, or 6.71 lifetimes a year.
Analyze any area in the US
Get local demographics for any address, aggregated by drive time or radius, on the interactive map.
Explore the map →