U.S. State Policy Contexts, County Economic Contexts, and Working-Age Mortality

Jointly modeling state and county contexts reveals synergistic, not independent, mortality associations. Lowest mortality is observed in economically secure counties within liberal-policy states. For males, extreme county economic insecurity yields high mortality regardless of state policy. For males, high labor force participation raises mortality in conservative state contexts. For females, liberal state policies buffer both county economic and labor disadvantages.