Linking Health and Economic Prosperity: A Study of U.S. Metro Areas

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Project Report

Linking Health and Economic Prosperity: A Study of U.S. Metro Areas

Date Modified:

2025-06-24

This study examines the relationship between population health and economic activity in metropolitan areas in the United States through an analysis of longitudinal data that spans a 15-year period.

Project Name

Linking Health and Economic Prosperity

Research shows that economic vitality improves health. But does good health improve economic vitality?

That’s what Wilder Research and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis set out to learn in a national study for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and AcademyHealth. We examined the relationship between population health and economic activity in U.S. metropolitan areas through an analysis of data spanning 15 years. The results suggest that population health really does contribute meaningfully to a community’s economic strength, and that good community health helps protects against economic shocks, like the Great Recession.