Percent of adults with fair or poor health status

Measure Overview

On the Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), respondents are asked to rate their health status on the following five-point scale
  1. Excellent 
  2. Very Good 
  3. Good 
  4. Fair 
  5. Poor
Health status can serve as an important barometer for understanding the overall well-being of communities as well as assist public health officials in identifying areas or populations experiencing worsened health status. The ability to track populations’ reported health status over time can help in understanding potential impacts of implemented policies, programs, or interventions to improve health status. 

Health Status by State and More: Breakdowns and Data Source 


State Health Compare provides annual, state-level estimates of the percent of adults with fair or poor health status using data from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS-ASEC) public use microdata files. 

Two breakdowns are available for this measure: Education and Race/Ethnicity.

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