To prevent an extreme value from excessively influencing a final score, the maximum score any state could receive for a component is limited to the national norm plus or minus two standard deviations. Where a value for the United States overall is not available, the national average is set at the average value of the states measured. Scores reported for individual components may not add up to the overall scores due to the rounding of numbers. The ranking is the ordering of each state according to score. Ties in scores are assigned equal rankings.
Components adjusted for race include black and Caucasian races only.
Other races have been excluded due to data limitations. All earlier rankings have been revised to reflect the latest definitions used for the components. The revisions reflect the improvements in methodology made to the rankings since 1990, which are then applied to data available for the year of the edition. Premature Death is measured based on death prior to age 75, not age 65. Lack of Health Insurance has replaced Lack of Access to Primary Care.