By Tom Corwin
Beaufort County is the healthiest place to live in South Carolina, according to an annual ranking. But the least healthy, Allendale County, is just one county over — a phenomenon that is common across the U.S., one expert said.
County Health Rankings released its annual report March 29 listing counties across the U.S. by overall health in each state based on a wide range of factors, from infant mortality to the number of providers to home ownership.
In South Carolina, just after Beaufort, the top counties were York, Charleston, Greenville, Dorchester and Lexington, in that order. Joining Allendale at the bottom were Marion, Lee, Hampton and Dillon counties.
That two of the least healthy were next door to Beaufort is not a surprise, said Ericka Burroughs-Girardi, research program coordinator at County Health Rankings & Roadmaps.
Places like Beaufort, with a wealth of resources, investment and better-paying jobs, tend to draw people from counties where those opportunities are lacking, contributing to the deficit in those counties, she said.
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