Cardiovascular Health in Texas
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and stroke shares several of its risk factors. This section brings together the six county measures Vellora holds that bear on cardiovascular health in Texas: five CDC model-based estimates of how many adults live with a condition or risk factor, and one observed death rate.
It describes where estimates are higher or lower. It does not explain why, and a county pattern says nothing about any one person’s health.
What the data covers
Every figure on this page comes from one of these measures, each in its latest release only.
| Measure | Role | Type of figure | Age adjustment | Who is counted | Data year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressurePLACES, PLACES 2025 release | Risk factor | Modeled estimate | Crude | Adults aged 18+ | BRFSS 2023 |
| Coronary heart diseasePLACES, PLACES 2025 release | Condition | Modeled estimate | Crude | Adults aged 18+ | BRFSS 2023 |
| StrokePLACES, PLACES 2025 release | Condition | Modeled estimate | Crude | Adults aged 18+ | BRFSS 2023 |
| Diagnosed diabetesPLACES, PLACES 2025 release | Risk factor | Modeled estimate | Crude | Adults aged 18+ | BRFSS 2023 |
| ObesityPLACES, PLACES 2025 release | Risk factor | Modeled estimate | Crude | Adults aged 18+ with BMI data | BRFSS 2023 |
| Heart disease mortalityHeart Disease Mortality Data Among US Adults (35+) by State/Territory and County, 2022–2024 (3-year average) | Outcome | Observed (vital records) | Age-adjusted | Adults 35+ | Deaths 2022–2024 |
| Smoking | Risk factor | No county data in Vellora | |||
| Physical inactivity | Risk factor | No county data in Vellora | |||
- Modeled estimates are not counts. CDC PLACES combines survey answers (BRFSS) with census data to estimate the share of adults who report being told they have a condition. Undiagnosed conditions are not counted.
- The death rate is observed, but smoothed. It counts death certificates for adults 35 and over, age-adjusted, averaged over three years and partly informed by neighbouring counties.
- The two kinds cannot be compared directly. They differ in type, age range and age adjustment, so this page never puts a prevalence estimate and the death rate on one scale.
Loading CDC county data…
Risk factors
Why these measures sit together, in the words of CDC’s guidance as summarised in Vellora’s cited health education article.
High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and smoking are the key risk factors for heart disease. CDC estimates that about half of people in the United States have at least one of these three.[1, 2]
Other conditions and behaviors also raise risk:[1, 2]
- Diabetes
- Overweight and obesity
- Unhealthy diet (high in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol or salt)
- Physical inactivity
- Excessive alcohol use
Some risk factors cannot be changed, such as age and family history. Risk rises with age, and families share both genes and environments that can influence risk.[2]
What the map can show: high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity have county estimates above. High cholesterol, smoking, physical inactivity, diet and alcohol use do not, so their part in any county pattern cannot be seen here.
- [1] About Heart Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/about/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
- [2] Heart Disease Risk Factors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/risk-factors/index.html (accessed 2026-10-18).
Reading these numbers
- Crude, not age-adjusted. The five PLACES measures are crude prevalence. Counties with more older adults will show higher figures even if age-specific risk is the same. CDC publishes age-adjusted prevalence for comparing counties, but it is not loaded in Vellora yet.
- Uncertainty matters. Check the 95% confidence interval before reading a difference between counties. Small counties have wide intervals. The death rate has no published interval.
- Withheld values stay withheld. CDC suppresses counties under 50 people (Loving County) and marks death rates it cannot estimate reliably. They are shown hatched, and are never treated as zero or left out silently.
- No trends, no rankings. CDC advises that PLACES releases should not be used to track change over time, so only the latest release is shown. Vellora does not rank counties.
- Patterns are not causes. Counties with more high blood pressure may also have higher death rates, but a shared pattern does not show that one causes the other. Age, income, access to care and many unmeasured factors differ between counties too.
Sources
PLACES: Local Data for Better Health (county data)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
CDC PLACES2025 release county data (swc5-untb)2024 release county data (fu4u-a9bh)2023 release county data (h3ej-a9ec)PLACES FAQs (trends, comparisons, citation)Measure definitions
Heart Disease Mortality Data Among US Adults (35+) by State/Territory and County
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (data: National Vital Statistics System)
2022–2024 county data (mri7-5jtw)Atlas statistical methodsCDC use of agency materials
Data are from CDC and available free on CDC’s website. Their use here does not imply endorsement by CDC or the U.S. government.
Keep exploring
- Explore the map
Every release, with a sortable county table.
- Compare two counties
Side by side, with intervals.
- Test an association
High blood pressure against heart disease deaths.
- Read the research report
Clustering, metro gaps and risk-factor associations.
- Methodology
Definitions, sources and limits.