Health & Fitness

NJ Has 2 Of The Safest Communities In America: U.S. News

Both of these Garden State counties were also ranked among the nation's top 50 Healthiest Communities.

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The 25 counties on the list have the best public safety records nationwide, according to this analysis. This ranking included data on gun violence, violent and property crime rates, access to emergency rooms, and spending on health services.
The 25 counties on the list have the best public safety records nationwide, according to this analysis. This ranking included data on gun violence, violent and property crime rates, access to emergency rooms, and spending on health services. (Samantha Mercado/Patch)

NEW JERSEY — Two counties in New Jersey are among the 25 safest communities in the country, U.S. News & World Report said in a recent report measuring the overall health of more than 3,000 U.S. counties.

Safety rankings in the sixth annual 2024 Healthiest Communities report take into consideration metrics across three key areas — crime, injuries and public safety capacity. The study includes individual metrics such as gun violence, violent and property crime rates, access to emergency rooms, spending on health and emergency services, and vehicle crash fatality rates.

The safety rankings are based on a 100-point scale.

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States in the northeastern U.S. had 10 communities among the top 25 safest communities – the most of any region – with eight of those counties located in New York.

Here are the counties in the Garden State that made the top 25, and some key information cited by the study:

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Morris County

  • Population: 508,816
  • Community type: Urban, high-performing economy
  • Public safety score: 82.84
  • Overall score: 86.75
  • Overall rank: 16

Bergen County

  • Population: 953,243
  • Community type: Urban, high-performing economy
  • Public safety score: 88.52
  • Overall score: 81.41
  • Overall rank: 41

This year, 20 of the 25 jurisdictions that scored the highest for public safety also landed among the country’s top 500 Healthiest Communities. Nine of them, including Morris and Bergen counties, made the top 50 overall rankings.

Overall, the 25 safest communities are:

  1. Nassau County, New York
  2. Alexandria, Virginia
  3. Rockland County, New York
  4. Rio Blanco County, Colorado
  5. Arlington County, Virginia
  6. Westchester County, New York
  7. Manassas Park, Virginia
  8. Putnam County, New York
  9. Bergen County, New Jersey
  10. Brown County, Minnesota
  11. San Mateo County, California
  12. Fairfax, Virginia
  13. Poquoson, Virginia
  14. Shelby County, Iowa
  15. Eagle County, Colorado
  16. Jim Hogg County, Texas
  17. Richmond County, New York
  18. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
  19. Prince William County, Virginia
  20. Queens County, New York
  21. Colfax County, Nebraska
  22. Suffolk County, New York
  23. Morris County, New Jersey
  24. Loudoun County, Virginia
  25. Kings County, New York

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