Monterey County’s latest health survey is here, with mixed results.

How healthy is Monterey County? Pam Marino here, with a few of the results of the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment, conducted on behalf of the Monterey County Health Needs Collaborative, a partnership between the County of Monterey Health Department, all the hospitals, United Way Monterey County, CSU Monterey Bay and the Central California Alliance for Health. It was released yesterday, Wednesday, Jan. 21.

This is the second needs assessment—the first was in 2022—and its main purpose is to give us a snapshot of residents’ health so that health providers, nonprofits and others can make targeted decisions and funding requests to impact the community’s overall health.

“We are seeing some improvements,” said Katy Castagna, president and CEO of United Way, during a County of Monterey press briefing yesterday, comparing the 2025 results to 2022. “There’s also some backtracking and overall a lot of work for all of us to do.”

Overall, just over 80 percent of the 3,000 people who participated said their health was good, very good or excellent. That left nearly 20 percent in the fair or poor categories, a number that Vicente Lara, a management analyst with the county Health Department, called “significant.” (The results were weighted to reflect the population of the entire county.)

Among the many data points reported in the assessment, heart disease was one of the leading causes of death, according to additional data, as well as cancer, unintentional injuries, respiratory diseases and diabetes. Poisoning or drug overdose was the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths, nearly half of those types of deaths. 

Diabetes continues to be an issue in the county, with 11 percent of people reporting they were diagnosed with the disease, up just slightly from 2022. The rates were higher in Salinas and South County. 

Monterey County residents appear to be heavier than others in the state and the U.S., with 71 percent categorized as overweight, compared to 64 percent in California and 63.3 percent in the nation.

In a bit of good news, less people reported experiencing fair or poor mental health than they did when the last survey was conducted in 2022: 34 percent in 2022 versus 27.5 percent. People also reported less symptoms of chronic depression since 2022. That being said, the percentage of people diagnosed with a depressive order rose slightly, from 24.6 percent to 27.3 percent. And slightly more people than in 2022 said their days are “extremely” or “very” stressful. A majority of people described most days as “moderately” stressful.

Less people reported having difficulties or delays in receiving needed health care than in 2022, when 74 percent reported difficulties compared to 66 percent in 2025. However, over 50 percent said they have problems arranging a doctor's appointment and 34 percent said they have issues finding a doctor. 

Access was one of 12 areas of opportunity noted by the report, which also included needed improvements in the areas of: cancer; diabetes; heart disease and stroke; housing; teen births; injury and violence; mental health; nutrition, physical activity and weight; respiratory disease; substance use; tobacco use.

If you’re interested in learning more, the full report is available at healthymontereycounty.org.