Frequent mental distress and Economy score
Across 2,934 counties, Frequent mental distress and Economy score have a link of -0.72, on a scale from −1 (opposite) to +1 (in step). But compare places with the same population density, income and education, and a very weak link of -0.17 remains. Most of the first figure came from both measures following how urban, rich and educated a place is, not from a link with each other.
Mostly gone after adjusting
Every place, plotted
One dot for each place reporting both measures. Hover over or tap a dot to see its name and values. The thin line is the straight line that best fits the dots. The bold line, shown for counties, is the link after adjusting for density, income and education. A dot far from the lines is a place that does not follow the pattern.
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What each measure is
Frequent mental distress
The estimated percentage of adults who report poor mental health on 14 or more days a month. It is adjusted so places with older or younger populations can be compared fairly. It is an estimate from a statistical model, not a direct count from a local survey.
CDC PLACES · PLACES MHLTH, age-adjusted
Economy score
Four income measures from four agencies: income per person, middle household income (an estimate from a statistical model), personal income per person, and average adjusted gross income on tax returns. Read it as four ways of measuring income, not as a broad economic summary. It moves very closely with middle household income (a link of 0.91 on a scale where 1 is perfect), and the site already adjusts for that. So a link with this score and a link with income are close to the same question.
· derived from 4 measures (ACS, BEA, IRS, SAIPE)
Highest and lowest
Where each measure is highest and lowest among the places reporting both (2023), with the other measure beside it. This is shown for every size of place where both are published. Metro-area values are added up from their counties. A measure that cannot be added up across counties, such as a middle value (median), has no metro figure. Counts are shown per 1,000 residents, since raw totals would only list the largest places. Cities and towns and ZIP codes are shown where the Census survey or the CDC publishes them; most other sources stop at the county. They are shown for places of 5,000 residents or more, and only where the survey’s margin of error is small enough for the figure to be usable. The CDC publishes its health estimates for cities in a version adjusted for age, so places with older or younger people can be compared fairly, but not for ZIP codes.
Counties
By frequent mental distress
| Frequent mental distress | Economy score | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Mingo County, WV | 26.6% | -0.417 |
| McDowell County, WV | 26% | -1.02 |
| Hancock County, TN | 25.7% | -0.669 |
| Calhoun County, WV | 25.7% | -0.0914 |
| Logan County, WV | 25.4% | 0.238 |
| Lowest | ||
| Fairfax County, VA | 12.7% | 3.51 |
| Montgomery County, MD | 12.8% | 3.13 |
| Aleutians West Census Area, AK | 13% | 1.99 |
| Aleutians East Borough, AK | 13% | 1.28 |
| Falls Church city, VA | 13% | 4.11 |
By economy score
| Frequent mental distress | Economy score | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Teton County, WY | 13.3% | 5.78 |
| Pitkin County, CO | 14.7% | 4.81 |
| Summit County, UT | 14.5% | 4.73 |
| Marin County, CA | 15.8% | 4.44 |
| San Mateo County, CA | 13.9% | 4.38 |
| Lowest | ||
| Kusilvak Census Area, AK | 23.5% | -1.28 |
| Oglala Lakota County, SD | 24.5% | -1.19 |
| Buffalo County, SD | 22.3% | -1.09 |
| Issaquena County, MS | 19% | -1.08 |
| Wheeler County, GA | 19.5% | -1.07 |
Metro areas
By frequent mental distress
| Frequent mental distress | Economy score | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Beckley, WV | 24.3% | -0.717 |
| Gallup, NM | 23.7% | -2.29 |
| Newport, TN | 23.5% | -1.34 |
| Charleston, WV | 23.2% | 0.035 |
| Parkersburg-Vienna, WV | 23% | -0.159 |
| Lowest | ||
| Los Alamos, NM | 13% | 2.77 |
| Jackson, WY-ID | 13.8% | 6.15 |
| Bismarck, ND | 14.1% | 1.11 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 14.1% | 4.15 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 14.1% | 2.29 |
By economy score
| Frequent mental distress | Economy score | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Jackson, WY-ID | 13.8% | 6.15 |
| Heber, UT | 14.8% | 4.36 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 14.1% | 4.15 |
| Naples-Marco Island, FL | 16.2% | 3.86 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | 15.4% | 3.85 |
| Lowest | ||
| Rio Grande City-Roma, TX | 19.2% | -2.7 |
| Zapata, TX | 19% | -2.58 |
| Gallup, NM | 23.7% | -2.29 |
| Deming, NM | 18.9% | -2.08 |
| Raymondville, TX | 18.3% | -2.08 |
Cities and towns — Economy score is not published for cities and towns
By frequent mental distress
| Frequent mental distress | Economy score | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Kiryas Joel village, NY | 25.7% | — |
| New Square village, NY | 25.4% | — |
| Tallulah city, LA | 25.3% | — |
| La Follette city, TN | 25.2% | — |
| Parkersburg city, WV | 25.2% | — |
| Lowest | ||
| Travilah CDP, MD | 10.6% | — |
| Loudoun Valley Estates CDP, VA | 10.7% | — |
| Princeton Meadows CDP, NJ | 10.7% | — |
| Floris CDP, VA | 10.8% | — |
| North Hills village, NY | 11% | — |
Counties furthest from the pattern
Compared with the straight line that best fits all 2,955 counties: the five with far more economy score than their frequent mental distress would suggest, and the five with far less.
| Frequent mental distress | Economy score | |
|---|---|---|
| Above the line | ||
| Teton County, WY | 13.3% | 5.78 |
| Pitkin County, CO | 14.7% | 4.81 |
| Marin County, CA | 15.8% | 4.44 |
| Summit County, UT | 14.5% | 4.73 |
| New York County, NY | 14.8% | 4.38 |
| Below the line | ||
| Crowley County, CO | 17.7% | -0.983 |
| Issaquena County, MS | 19% | -1.08 |
| Starr County, TX | 19.2% | -1.04 |
| Wheeler County, GA | 19.5% | -1.07 |
| Guadalupe County, NM | 16.3% | -0.16 |
Two series, one county
Both measures over time for a county you pick. The two charts are stacked, so they share only the years along the bottom. You can pick from the thirty largest counties reporting both. This panel covers 2010–2024, and a measure published only once shows as a single dot.
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Every version of the link
Each row measures the same link, from −1 to +1, in a different way. If the rows mostly agree, the link does not depend on one choice of method.
| Before adjusting for anything | -0.718 | 2,934 counties reporting both |
| After adjusting for density, income and education | -0.170 | the part of the link that is not just how urban, rich and educated a place is |
| Also adjusting for population size | -0.170 | size taken out as well as density |
| Also comparing only within each state | -0.152 | each county is compared only with others in its own state, so this is no longer a comparison between states |
| Giving bigger counties more weight | +0.009 | the adjusted link for the average resident rather than the average county. With this weighting, the data counts for about 264 equally weighted counties |
| Middle value inside single states | -0.837 | the link worked out inside each of 38 states with at least 20 counties reporting |
| Using ranks, after adjusting | -0.166 | uses each county’s rank, not its value, so a few extreme counties cannot create the link |
How much to believe it
Could it be chance?
The p-value is the chance of seeing a link this strong if there were really none. A value of 0.05 or less means the link is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 3.1e-16 means 0.00000000000000031, and the bigger the number after “e-”, the smaller the value. Treating every county as a separate case gives p = 2.0e-20. But counties in the same state tend to resemble each other, so the better figure allows for that: p = 0.008. The site tested 20,910 pairs, and testing so many turns up some flukes. The q-value allows for that too. For this pair it is 6.4e-20.
Do nearby places look alike?
Moran’s I measures how much nearby places look alike: 0 means no map pattern, and higher means neighbours are more similar. For the part of each county that the adjustment leaves unexplained, it is +0.24 (p = 0.001). That unexplained part still clusters on the map. So some regional factor shared by both measures is not accounted for.
Did they change together?
Not measurable: at least one of these is published for too few of the years a change needs (2014–2019 or 2019–2023), or for too few counties in both.
Related pairs
- Median household income and Economy score — +0.78
- Share with a bachelor's degree or higher and Economy score — +0.52
- Poverty rate (model-based) and Economy score — -0.44
- Mean income of departing households and Economy score — +0.43
- Frequent mental distress and Drug overdose deaths — +0.42
- Mean income of arriving households and Economy score — +0.39
- Threat of utility shut-off and Economy score — -0.38
- Lack of reliable transportation and Economy score — -0.38
Association only. Nothing here shows that either measure changes the other. This describes counties, not the people in them. Two measures going together across places does not mean the same people have both. How the US county data works · Explore Frequent mental distress and Economy score