Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration commissioned the Mannheim Institute for Public Health to develop an instrument which would enable health comparisons based on an analysis of strengths and weaknesses at the federal and municipal levels. This health barometer focuses on four key areas (population health, health promotion and disease prevention, health behaviour as well as out- and inpatient care), which are operationalised based on twelve indicators. The article explains how the individual indicators and the overall health barometer are calculated.