The types of available comparisons depend on the source and methodology of the data:
- If the data comes from a national source collected at the county level, your county’s value will typically be compared to a distribution of all U.S. counties or to a national average, as well as a distribution of your state's counties and your state's average value.
- If the data is collected at the state level, your county’s value will be compared to a distribution of all counties or county-equivalents in the state, or compared to a state average or value.
- If the distribution or average data is not available, your county value will typically be compared to the Prior Value.
- Sometimes there will also be a Healthy People 2030 target for a comparison, when the definition of the indicator aligns with those national goals.
See the Gauge and Icon Overview for how these comparisons are visualized.