County Health Rankings describes health outcomes as how long people live and how healthy they are. The life expectancy in Tennessee is 75.4 years, while it is 74.4 years in Shelby County. Infant mortality rates in Shelby County, compared to the rest of the counties in the State of Tennessee, are significantly higher. The rate of infant death in Shelby County is 10.30 per 1,000, compared to the Tennessee’s rate of 7.90. Within that statistic, blacks in Shelby County have a rate of 13.40, compared to that of the white population, which is 5.50 (Towns, 2014). Premature births play a huge role in the rate of infant mortality. “While the Shelby County total premature birth rate hovers right around the national and state rates, the rate is close to 4.0% higher for babies born to African Americans” (Towns, 2014). In Shelby County, the white premature birth percentage is 10.30%, while the black premature birth percentage is 14.70%; compared to the Shelby County total at 12.80%, and the Tennessee total 11.30% (Towns, 2014). Premature babies are, of course, born under weight. Because of this, premature birth rates of the black and white populations directly correlate to the low birth weights. “In Shelby County,…show more content… Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in both Shelby County and Tennessee. In Shelby County, between 2007-2009, there were 5,577 deaths related to heart disease and 42,982 in Tennessee. Among these deaths, more blacks at a rate of 276.7% and 272.4% in Shelby County and Tennessee respectively died due to heart disease than whites at rates of 198.8% and 214.7%. The second leading cause of death for both Shelby County and Tennessee is cancer. Chronic Lower Respiratory disease is the third leading cause of death in Tennessee with 10,157 deaths between 2007 and 2009. In Shelby County, 1,382 deaths related to strokes was third leading cause of