Delaware County Facts & Figures
Get to Know our County
Delaware County
-
The 6th most rural county in New York State.
-
Median income is $44,617 (NYS $55,687).
-
Largest employer is healthcare and education.
-
Unemployment rate is 5.3% vs 4.7% for NYS (Delaware County Public Health, 2018).
WHAT DO THE NUMBERS SAY?
-
Substance use and addiction doubled from 2005-2015.
-
Combined addictions and mental health issues doubled from 24 to 55%.
-
Cases of Hepatis C doubled from 2012-2015 (Delaware County Health, 2018).
-
One treatment center for all of Delaware County.
-
Almost a 1/3 of children in Delaware County are living in poverty.
-
13.2 % of children in Delaware County are "disconnected" (Measure of America, 2018).
Disconnection in Youth
Disconnected youth are youth ages 16-24 who are not in school nor working. "Disconnected youth are at an increased risk of violent behavior, smoking, alcohol consumption and marijuana use, and may have emotional deficits and less cognitive and academic skills than their peers who are working and/or in school. Studies show that both a lack of educational attainment and unemployment is linked to depression, anxiety, and poor physical health" (County Health rankings and Roadmaps, 2019).
County Opioid Data
Delaware County has a higher rate of overdose deaths from all opioids, and including opioid pain relievers, than New York State at 22.0 and 15.2 per 100,000 (NYS Department of Health, 2019).
Poverty Data
The poverty rate in Delaware County, NY is 16.5% vs. 15.1% for NYS and 14.6% overall for the US. Of the families in our county who have a female head of household, the poverty rate increases to 54%.
COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS AND ROADMAPS
"The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program compares the health of nearly all counties in the United States to others within its own state, and supports coalitions tackling the social, economic and environmental factors that influence health.
The annual Rankings provide a revealing snapshot of how health is influenced by where we live, learn, work and play. As the Rankings provide a starting point for change, the Roadmaps provide guidance and tools to understand the data, and strategies that communities can use to move from education to action." (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2018).
THE GOOD NEWS
Together, we can and will change these statistics!