Community Corner

Report: McHenry County Among Better Places to Live in United States

Do you think McHenry County deserves to be ranked among the best places to live in the United States? Why or why not?

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When it comes to the hardest places to live in the United States, McHenry County residents struggle less with health and wealth than most. 

A New York Times article this week looked at the following data from counties across the United States to determine which counties were the hardest places to live: 

  • Median household income
  • Education (percentage of residents with at least a bachelor’s degree)
  • Disability rate
  • Life expectancy
  • Unemployment rate
  • Obesity
The newspaper then gave a ranking to the counties based on those factors. 

McHenry County fit under the "Doing Better" cateogry, according to the New York Times data. The county received a rank of 192 out of 3,135 total counties.

Here is a look at the data the New York Times factored in when determining McHenry County's ranking: 
  • The median income in McHenry County: $77,325
  • Percent with college education: 32.5 percent
  • Unemployment: 8.4 percent
  • Disability: .3 percent
  • Life expectancy: 79.9 years
  • Obesity 33 percent
In comparison, the hardest place to live was Clay County, Kent., where the median income is $22,296, 7.4 percent of residents have a college education and the life expectancy is 71.4 years, according to the New York Times data map. 

Read the full article and find out how other counties rank on the New York Times website.

Do you think McHenry County deserves to be ranked among the best places to live in the United States? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments section. 


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