Douglas County, Colo., is the healthiest community in the U.S., according to the 2019 Healthiest Communities report released March 26 by U.S. News & World Report and the Aetna Foundation.
The second annual report analyzes nearly 3,000 U.S. communities on 81 health-related metrics across 10 categories ranging from education to population health.
Based on this analysis, U.S. News ranked the top 500 healthiest communities. Eighty-one counties ranked among the top 500 for the first time, and Colorado had seven communities ranked among the top 20. Iowa had the strongest overall presence on the Healthiest Communities list with 62 counties ranking among the top 500.
U.S. News also sorted the communities into the following peer groupings based on counties' population density and economic status to ensure fair comparisons between communities: urban, high-performing; urban, up-and-coming; rural, high-performing and rural, up-and-coming.
The five healthiest communities in 2019 were:
- Douglas County, Colo.
- Los Alamos County, N.M.
- Falls Church, Va.
- Loudoun County, Va.
- Broomfield County, Colo.
To view the full Healthiest Communities ranking, click here.