7. Washington
Washington moved up two places from its ninth-place rank last year. The state has bucked national trends and seen drug deaths fall by 13 percent over the past four years. The percentage of the population without health insurance fell more than 40 percent over the past two years.
Strengths: Low prevalence of smoking; high immunization coverage among children; low prevalence of low birthweight.
Challenges: High prevalence of excessive drinking; low percentage of high school graduation; low immunization coverage among adolescents.
