Douglas County in Colorado is 2019's healthiest community in the United States. The rankings are courtesy of the U.S. News & World Report.
Washington DC suburb, Falls Church, Virginia, 2018's winner, was the first of annual America's Healthiest Community face off. Falls Church ranked third for the current year with Los Alamos County, New Mexico ranking second.
U.S. News has worked with health and research experts in evaluating about 3,000 communities. There are 81 parameters and 10 categories to consider.
The communities were judged according to equity, the health of the population, economy, education, food and nutrition, housing, public safety, environment, infrastructure, and community vitality. Data from other government agencies were also considered. Air and water quality, crime rates, and access to healthcare in the communities were assessed by agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Four of the 81 parameters were dominated by Douglas County. Other Colorado counties joined in on the top 20 list. With 62 counties getting in on the top 500 ranking, Iowa was the most represented among all the states, with Bremer County at the 26th.
Tim Smart, the executive editor at U.S. News, emphasized the correlation between living in a healthy community and the overall quality of life and life expectancy of an individual. According to Smart, Douglas County residents have a life expectancy higher than the national average by five years.
Larry J. Merlo, CEO and president of CVS Health explained that the importance of distinguishing healthy communities form unhealthy ones is the likelihood to identify key issues so that leaders and residents would be able to determine what to do and take essential steps that could help their neighborhood.
U.S. News & World Report executive chairman, Eric Gertler, explains that the second year of the Healthiest Communities Initiative, together with Aetna Foundation, aims to use the power of journalism to engage and urge communities to learn and improve. It is also one of the best ways to evaluate how citizens are cared for and served by their policymakers.
According to the U.S. News and World Report, the top 10 healthiest communities in 2019 are:
1. Douglas County, CO
2. Los Alamos County, NM
3. Falls Church City, VA (#1 in 2018)
4. Loudoun County, VA5. Broomfield County, CO
6. Teton County, WY
7. Hamilton County, IN
8. Carver County, MN
9. Delaware County, OH
10. Howard County, MD
