Stats of the Union is powered by the Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI) report from 2009, which consists of data from federal agencies including the Census Bureau, Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Labor and the Environmental Protection Agency.

With all this data you can look at population, risk factors, and indicators of health. Zoom in to get the specific data for a county. Zoom out and compare your county to an overview for each state or for the whole country.

You can go directly to any story you want, but it's interesting to first get an overview of U.S. demographics. See where the population is dense, old, young and learn where America is predominantly black, white or Hispanic.

Then get an overview of the nation's health: life expectancy, causes of death, poor or fair health and sick days.

You can break out health indicators related to birth (low birth weight, premature births etc.)...

...or see specific causes of death (homicide, car crashes, heart disease etc.)...

... or look at patterns of at-risk groups for health related problems (unemployment, major depression, recent drug users etc.)

Under "Diseases" in the navigation bar, you find statistics on certain diseases (E.coli, Salmonella, Hepatitis) as well as preventative procedures (mammograms, flu shots etc.).

Under Risk Factors, you can view prevalence of behavior (no exercise, few fruits and vegetables, smoking) as well as access to health care professionals and health insurance.

Your previously viewed stories are saved under "History." If you'd like to share a story or use it in a presentation, click on "Snapshot" and it will be saved to your Photos folder.

Watch the Stats of the Union video and see how it works!