The social determinants of health dashboards capture a range of conditions that affect the health of Washington State residents.
What's Here
The social determinants of health and demographic dashboards are divided into three geographic levels: County, Accountable Communities of Health (ACHs)* and Census Tracts**. The social determinants of health dashboards have the following measures:
- Poverty
- Education
- Limited English
- Unemployment
- Uninsured
View the Data
Social Determinants of Health - County
Social Determinants of Health - ACH
Social Determinants of Health - 2020 Census Tract
Social Determinants of Health - 2010 Census Tract
What is Meant by Social Determinants of Health?
Social determinants of health are economic and social conditions – based on where people are born, live, learn, work, and play – that affect a person's health status. These external and interdependent factors help explain why some people experience worse health outcomes than others.
According to Healthy People 2020, some of the social determinants of health are poverty, housing instability, transportation options, language/literacy, employment status and health insurance access. Other societal factors such as racism (including structural and institutional) and other forms of oppression also impact the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities as a whole, particularly those of color and other marginalized groups (such as differently abled, LGBTQ, Tribal Nations, etc.)
The Washington State Health Assessment of 2018 includes data and information on social determinants of health for our state, such as housing and healthcare access. The Department knows that improving the social determinants of health can help improve health overall over time. This work involves collaborating with stakeholders and partners from across the state and using a “health in all policies” approach and leading with equity in decision-making and resource allocation, capitalizing on work that has already been done to help remedy some of these issues.
*Accountable Communities of Health (ACHs) are collections of regional organizations/agencies across the state whose goal is to improve the health and health equity of their communities. The ACHs are working to achieve this goal by creating, supporting and collaborating on local health improvement plans, supporting local and statewide initiatives such as Medicaid Transformation, practice transformation and value-based purchasing, and aligning resources and activities that improve whole-person health and wellness. There are nine ACHs in Washington State.
**Census tracts are drawn after each U.S. census to each contain approximately the same number of residents. This means that rural census tracts are larger than urban census tracts, and that census tracts change with each U.S. census. The 2010 census established 1458 census tracts in Washington, and the 2020 census established 1784 census tracts in Washington. Annual data for years using the 2010 census tracts are available through the button labeled “Social Determinants of Health – 2010 census tracts.” Annual data for years using the 2020 census tracts are available through the button labeled “Social Determinants of Health – 2020 census tracts.”
Contact Us
For information or questions related to the Washington Tracking Network, email DOH.WTN@doh.wa.gov.
Let Us Know How You Used the Data
We love hearing about how our data is being used to make an impact on the health of Washingtonians. It also helps us to know what is meeting our users’ needs and how we can improve the information we provide. If you used our data, please tell us about it by sending an email to DOH.WTN@doh.wa.gov.
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