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A major annual study of the nation’s health placed Oregon at 19th in the nation in 2025—on par with the state’s rankings in recent years after it peaked at 8th around 2011.
The study, from America’s Health Rankings, relies on a mix of data from different recent time periods, some of which may be somewhat outdated. But the longstanding report on state health outcomes and other associated metrics is nonetheless a useful barometer of statewide health trends, and helps show areas where Oregon is an outlier.
A few positive examples: The latest study ranked Oregon 5th best in terms of insufficient sleep, 9th best in insurance rates and 7th in dental care and exercise.
A few negative examples: adults with multiple chronic conditions (39th), homelessness (48) and “frequent mental distress” (46th).
And Oregon plummeted in the drug death rankings from 25th to 41st.
While many of the rankings are based on newer data, that jump, from 32 to 42 deaths per 100,000 people, reflects relatively old data, from 2022 to 2023.
Those numbers stands out against the national backdrop, where after years of steady drug death increases, overdose rates began to decline during that span. But more recent data, which is too new to be included in the study, suggests that Oregon’s death rates fell significantly the next year.
Still, why it is that more than 1,700 Oregonians died from drug use in 2023 remains a matter of debate.
For years the state has had far more mental health providers per capita than the national average. (It ranked 3rd in the latest report.)
A common suspect is Measure 110, the 2020 voter initiative which removed criminal penalties for low-level drug possession—and, in theory, expanded access to treatment and recovery services.
But some analyses tell a complex story here. A recent audit found that the state had failed to integrate such services into a fragmented behavioral health system. It also found that the decriminalization project may have been a victim of bad timing.
Fentanyl, a major cause of deadly drug overdoses, spread westward from the East Coast over time, the audit said, hitting Oregon and other states just as Measure 110 was being implemented. Indeed, Washington State and Alaska’s drug death rates closely track Oregon’s through 2023.
The Oregon legislature recriminalized possession of certain drugs in 2024.
