When considering a place to live — or considering whether to remain in your current city — it can help to have additional information. Those involved in public health know that there are a number of factors that contribute to the overall health and safety of any municipality. You don’t have to be a public health administrator to get the inside information on health and safety for your city, though. You can actually find out more about what’s going on by using online tools to look at the stats related to your city. Here are 25 free tools you can use to analyze what’s going on with your city.
Health
Learn more about health in general, but looking at various stats related to the health of the people in your town.
- America’s Health Rankings: Learn more about the rankings of health in different states. Includes interactive data applications that can help you learn more about health in your locality.
- HealthMap: Interested in knowing about health issues in your town, and around the world? HealthMap offers a look at health around the world, and can help you pinpoint health information in your local area.
- GeoSentinel: Learn more about keeping track of global health issues, including outbreaks and health information for your city. Track your own outbreaks as well.
- Community Health Status Indicators: A great look at how you can improve a community’s health. Look at indicators by state and county. Includes information on different health concerns, from heart disease to cancer to diabetes.
- Kaiser State Health Facts: Helpful stats from the Kaiser Family Foundation, featuring an interactive map that can help you learn about health, status, and government health assistance in your area.
- Cancer Trends Progress Report: Learn more about cancer, information about prevention, and stats about the incidence of cancer.
- HRSA Geospatial Data Warehouse: Cool tools from the Health Resources and Services Administration are available online. You can find information about service professionals, health care delivery sites and more with these tools.
- Health Data Interactive: Interactive tools that help you learn more about your geographic location, stats and other information about health. A great tool for those looking for interactive data, and helpful resources.
- State Scorecard: Compare health in your area with the health in other areas. Offers different rankings related to health and compare your area to benchmarks. A great resource for learning more about health in your state and town, and how it compares to what is in other areas.
Safety
Helpful information on safety, and different programs set up in your town.
- Pedestrian and Bicycle GIS Safety Analysis Tools: The Highway Safety Information System offers information on zones where there are high incidences of pedestrian crashes, and offers information on safe bike routes.
- Diversity Data: This cool method of generating customized reports can help you learn about safety, quality of life, and more. A look at different data, and a tool that can help you narrow down your results, and allow you to look at specific values of interest.
- KIDS COUNT Data Center: Focuses on information about children and their well-being. Also includes information on safety, and provides rankings. A great way to evaluate child safety, and focus on finding an environment that is ideal for your kids.
- American FactFinder: Learn information about the population, and statistics related to safety, quality of life, crime and more. An interesting look st different communities and what is important to them.
- Crime Statistics: CityRating.com offers this helpful tool to help you learn more about your city’s safety by looking at crime data. Includes violent and non-violent information and helpful resources on other ratings.
- Bike Safety Statistics: A look at different stats related to bicycles, and bike safety. Looks at different stats from different cities, and includes a look at different factors related to bicycles and bike safety.
- Safety Net Monitoring: A look at safety net monitoring for different cities in terms of health care access. Evaluate the safety of your area, and the kinds of opportunities and helps available in your local area.
- Local Drinking Water Information: Concerned about the safety of your drinking water? This is a great tool from the Environmental Protection Agency, helping you learn more about the local drinking water. Find out about the dangers of bad drinking water, and find valuable information about your city’s water supply safety.
- AIRNow: Learn about local air safety. In some cases, it might not be a good idea to breathe the air. Learn about how dangerous your air might be, and learn about the safety of the air you breathe in your hometown.
- Youth Violence: Find out more about youth violence in your area. You can learn about safety for you, as well as for your children. Find out whether or not your child is likely to be at risk due to youth violence.
Statistics
Learn more about the make-up of your town with helpful databases that include various statistics that can help you learn more about what your city appears to be.
- CDC Data & Statistics: A look at different data and statistics that can help you analyze conditions in your city. A great general tool that can help you focus on specific statistics of interest.
- Health Statistics: A helpful tutorial on learning how to understand health statistics, and how to apply the information that you learn. A great educational tool.
- Public Health Data Standards Consortium: Learn more about standard information for public health, and data standards. A great, helpful stats resource.
- Data.gov: Find apps and other tools related to different data sets. Includes geographic data on health, safety and other issues. A great data resource for nearly everyone.
- State Data Resources: Learn more about different data in your state, and in your local area. A helpful look at different data sets. Also includes a tutorial on using the resources and tools available.
- TranStat: Access to statistical data and a helpful tool for modeling your own outbreaks. A great tool for general research, and one that can enhance your study and use of statistics related to community health and safety.
Did you enjoy this article?
