Bergen County Among U.S.'s Healthiest Communities: U.S. News

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Bergen County is among some of the healthiest communities in the United States and New Jersey, according to a newly released set of rankings. It came in at number 147 out of a total of 500 U.S. communities featured in the rankings; graded for various health-related factors like population health and environment.

Released on Tuesday, the 2019 healthiest communities rankings are a joint collaboration between U.S. News & World Report and the Aetna Foundation. To come up with the finalized list, U.S. News and the Aetna Foundation evaluated nearly 3,000 communities across multiple health-related metrics in 10 categories.

In New Jersey, Morris County got the highest overall ranking and Monmouth got the lowest.

Here is how some New Jersey counties ranked out of 500 in the U.S.:

• 23 - Morris County
• 27 - Hunterdon County
• 66 - Somerset County
• 147 - Bergen County
• 197 - Sussex County
• 281 - Burlington County
• 298 - Monmouth County

Below are the 10 categories the communities were graded on (Several metrics fall under each category and in total 81 metrics were used):

Population Health
Equity
Education
Economy
Housing
Food & Nutrition
Environment
Public Safety
Community Vitality
Infrastructure

The top spot on the 2019 list goes to Douglas County, Colorado. Los Alamos County in New Mexico took the No. 2 spot while Falls Church in Virginia ranked No. 3, dropping from the No.1 spot in 2018. Loudoun County in Virginia and Broomfield, County in Colorado came in at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Overall, seven Colorado communities ranked among the top 20. Iowa was another state that fared well in the rankings, taking 62 of the top 500 spots.

U.S. News worked with the University of Missouri Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems CARES to compile the rankings. The publication also consulted with members of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. Data came from sources like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com