For a second year in a row, South Carolina inched up one spot in the annual America’s Health Rankings.
Small gains are good news, but the Palmetto State still could make significant improvements. Since the rankings were first released in 1990, South Carolina has never scored highly – bouncing between 41st and 48th. This year, it ranks 42nd healthiest among all states (or ninth unhealthiest, depending on your point of view) up from 43rd in 2013 and 44th in 2012.
“When you have ranking systems like this, for us to move up one, (it) means someone else moved back one,” said Lillian Smith, the assistant dean for practice and community engagement at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. “Does that mean that we improved or someone else got worse? You’ve got to take these things with a grain of salt.”