Los Alamos County, New Mexico was named the healthiest community in America as part of the 2022 U.S. News Healthiest Communities rankings unveiled Wednesday morning.
The project, which was conducted in collaboration with CVS Health, ranked communities nationwide based on an analysis of nearly 90 factors across 10 categories. These include metrics like public health, education, infrastructure as well as COVID-19 data like vaccination rates and daily cases.
Notably, communities with higher cumulative deaths due to COVID tended to have “lower rates of postsecondary education, lower life expectancy and lower shares of adults who’ve recently engaged in leisure-time physical activity.” Meanwhile, communities with a higher level of education tended to have higher COVID vaccination and booster shot rates.
The states with the highest median overall scores were Rhode Island, Minnesota and Iowa, while the lowest median overall scores were found in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.
“We all know the significant impact that social determinants have on the health and well-being of individuals and our local communities,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, vice president and chief health equity officer at CVS Health, in a statement. “The data we collect helps us determine the best way to collaborate with communities to develop sustainable solutions and advance health equity in a way that meets their unique needs.”
According to the report, the top 10 Healthiest Communities each scored above average in at least eight categories that assessed the social determinants of health.
The top 10:
- Los Alamos County, New Mexico
- Falls Church city, Virginia
- Douglas County, Colorado
- Morgan County, Utah
- Carver County, Minnesota
- Sioux County, Iowa
- Ozaukee County, Wisconsin
- Hamilton County, Indiana
- Broomfield County, Colorado
- Delaware County, Ohio
The rest of the top 25:
- Dallas County, Iowa
- Loudoun County, Virginia
- Arlington County, Virginia
- Union County, South Dakota
- Teton County, Wyoming
- Morris County, New Jersey
- Fairfax County, Virginia
- Howard County, Maryland
- Williamson County, Tennessee
- Johnson County, Kansas
- Lincoln County, South Dakota
- Waukesha County, Wisconsin
- Dodge County, Minnesota
- Hamilton County, Nebraska
- Washington County, Minnesota
