Butler County is one of the healthiest counties in the state, according to a recent study.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute on Wednesday announced its annual County Health Rankings.

The county ranked as the seventh best in health outcomes and eighth in health factors. Last year, it ranked 10th and seventh, respectively.

The county is also the only one in Western Pennsylvania to rank in the top 10, the best neighboring county is Clarion, which is ranked 24th in health outcomes.

For health outcomes, the study looked at potential life lost to premature death and average number of poor mental or physical health days reported per month. Butler County ranked better than the state average in all those categories.

For health factors, the study looked at health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic conditions and physical environment.

Areas of strength for the county in the study included a 94 percent high school graduation rate, better than the 86 percent rate for the state.

Other strengths included a 9 percent uninsured rate for adults younger than 65 and a low teen birth rate.

Categories listed as “areas to explore” included adult smoking rate and adult obesity rate and mammography screening rate for women.

In the physical environment category, the county only ranked 65 out of 67 counties in the state. One factor in that ranking was air pollution, where the county has a higher rate than the state average.

Jim Cunningham, director of development for the Community Health Clinic of Butler County, said the report is not surprising because the county has effective social service agencies and health care facilities.

“I think a lot of it is the health care system in Butler is very good. We have one of the premier hospitals in the state or even the tri-state area,” he said.

However, the low uninsured rate can be misleading, Cunningham said, because there are people who are insured thanks to the Affordable Care Act, but can’t afford to pay deductibles or who don’t have access to care.

“There is certainly still a need for health care. We do have to consider there are people in the county who are underserved in the health care system who need health care and who need dental care,” Cunningham said.

The clinic, opened in 2007, often sees patients who have never had dental care in their life, he said.

Leslie Osche, chair of the county commissioners, said she was “thrilled” to hear that the county did well again in the rankings.

She agreed that the Butler Health System and the county’s nonprofit agencies play a role in its rating.

“I think this county has a reputation for collaboration among all agencies across the board. That collaboration is what makes us healthy all the way around,” Osche said.

There are also a large number of senior citizens who receive good health care.

“We have tremendous senior organizations with Concordia, St. Barnabas and Passavant and even Sunnyview,” she said.

Despite premature death not being listed as an area needing improvement, Osche said she has seen the community starting to band together more and more to do something about the problem of drug overdoses.

“We have to be on the prevention side, no amount of money will cut off the supply,” she said.

“Now the churches have begun to come together in different aspects,” she said. “I see some hope on the horizon.”