Bergen County Ranks At Top Of 'Safest' And 'Healthiest' Communities: U.S. News

NEW JERSEY — U.S. News & World Report recently ranked safest and healthiest communities in the country, and picked two New Jersey counties for both lists — including Bergen County.

The most recent U.S. News report compared the health and safety 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 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.

While BERGEN COUNTY has 70 towns and cities, many counties were counted as a community.

The two counties in the top 25 for safety are:

Bergen County

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

Morris County

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

This year, 20 of the 25 jurisdictions that scored the highest for public safety also landed among the country’s top 500 Healthiest Communities. They again included Bergen and Morris counties.

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

Read more on U.S. News here.

Editor Michele Rotuno-Johnson contributed to this report.