Livingston County is the healthiest county in Michigan when ranked according to health outcomes like disease morbidity and premature deaths, according to a nationwide report ranking county health released today.

The County Health Rankings report, released by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, includes nearly all 3,000 counties in the country.

The Washtenaw County Health Department says new initiatives like the Ypsilanti Farmer's Market are improving residents' health.

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Washtenaw County comes in seventh when it comes to health outcomes, or the rate of premaure death and disease.

But the county health department pointed out in a statement this morning that Washtenaw County is first in the state when it comes to factors that impact residents' health, such as health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.

The county cited its creation of the "Clean Indoor Air Regulation" in 2003 and programs that have increased access to healthier foods - including the Ypsilanti Farmer's Market - as health factors boosting the county.

“The report gives the citizens of the county something to be proud of and it also helps to identify areas where much more work needs to be done," Washtenaw County Health Officer Dick Fleece said in a statement.

Livingston County ranks second in health factors.

The rankings were built off a model used by the University of Wisconsin to rank the health of Wisconsin counties since 2003. They are based on looking at population health and factors that "if improved, can help make communities healthier places."

The data was compiled looking at a collection of national data - for example: Medicare statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data such as death and birth statistics, national health statistics and diabetes prevalence, as well as data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other agencies that track income and insurance rates.

Tina Reed covers health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at tinareed@annarbor.com, call her at 734-623-2535 or find her on Twitter @TreedinAA.