Portola Valley, CA is a small town nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains with a population of just over 4,000 people. The local community takes great pride in its commitment to health and wellness. The town boasts a variety of medical facilities and hospitals which provide quality healthcare services to the residents of Portola Valley. Most notably, there is Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford located only a few miles away from the city center which offers comprehensive care for children ranging from newborns to young adults. Additionally, Stanford Health Care has an ambulatory center right in Portola Valley that provides specialty care and medical services for adults of all ages. Furthermore, the community also has several private and public clinics where residents can access basic medical care such as regular checkups and vaccinations. All in all, the health services available in this small town are quite impressive and help ensure that residents maintain healthy lifestyles throughout their lives.
The health of a city has many different factors. It can refer to air quality, water quality, risk of getting respiratory disease or cancer. The people you live around can also affect your health as some places have lower or higher rates of physical activity, increased alcohol intake, smoking, obesity, and cancer rates.
Physicians per Capita
There are 302 physicians per 100,000 population in Portola Valley. The US average is 210 per 100,000 people.
Health Cost Index
The annual BestPlaces Health Cost Index for the Portola Valley area is 97.0 (lower=better). The US average is 100.
97.0 / 100
Example: 110 = 10% more expensive than national average.
Water Qualtiy Index
The annual BestPlaces Water Quality Index for the Portola Valley area is 45 (100=best). The US average is 55.
45 / 100
Note that this is a measure of Watershed quality, not the water that comes from your faucet. The EPA has stated that a healthy watershed is closely related to drinking water quality. The EPA has a complex method of measuring watershed quality using 15 indicators such as pH, chemicals, metals, and bacteria.
Superfund Index
The annual BestPlaces Superfund Index for the Portola Valley area is 98 (100=best). The US average is 87.
98 / 100
The EPA's Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of our nation's most contaminated land. Our index is based on the number of active Superfund sites (over 15,000 in the United States), with particular attention paid to those on the National Priorities List which pose the greatest health danger.
Quick Facts
Commuting can effect your health. The average person in Portola Valley commutes 30.0 minutes one-way, which is longer than the US average of 26.4 minutes.
Air Quality Index
The annual BestPlaces Air Quality Index for the Portola Valley area is 85 (100=best). The US average is 58.
85 / 100
This is based on new measures of hazardous air pollutants from the EPA, called the National Air Toxics Assessment. This analysis models respiratory illness and cancer risk down to the zip code level, providing better detail and insight than the previous analysis based solely on results from air monitoring stations.