Monterey County ranks near the upper-middle in statewide health assessment.

At least we're not one of those sickly NoCal counties.

Monterey County ranks 16 of 56 California counties in overall "health outcomes," according to County Health Rankings, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Factors assessed include mortality, premature death, poor physical and mental health, and low birthweight rates. Marin and San Benito counties topped that list, while Siskiyou and Del Norte counties - on the state's northern border with Oregon - ranked unhealthiest in the state.

The county earned a more middlin' 29th rank in terms of "health factors," which take into account behaviors like smoking, drinking and teen birth rate; clinical care including the uninsured adult population and preventable hospital stays; social and economic factors such as high school graduation rate and income inequality; and physical environment factors such as access to healthy foods and liquor store density.

Marine and Placer counties topped the "health factors" list, and Kern and Tulare took the booby prizes.