Okay, we thought big data folks had really turned it up to 11 with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's comprehensive U.S. Health Map, which categorizes each and every U.S. death by each and every U.S. county. The map can tell you which areas of the country have the lowest life expectancy (parts of Appalachia and the South don't look good); which suffer the highest rates of binge drinking (Wisconsin, Montana, North Dakota) and suicide (the Kusilvak Census Area in Alaska; South Dakota Native American reservations); and lots of other information that will satisfy even the most voracious consumer of death and morbidity data.
But when it comes to urban areas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have gone the IHME's tool one better — turned it up to 12, if you will — with its recently introduced health data map, part of its 500 Cities project.
"The project identifies, analyzes, and reports on 27 chronic disease measures focusing on conditions, behaviors, and risk factors that have a substantial effect on people’s health," according to the CDC, which launched the map in partnership with the CDC Foundation and the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation.
But wait, there's more — the map doesn't just drill down to the city level; it homes in on each census tract, which is, basically, your neighborhood.