Falls Church, Virginia, tops rankings that examine health outcomes, equity and mental health.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and civic journalism, today unveiled the 2024 Healthiest Communities rankings. Now in its sixth edition, the Healthiest Communities rankings serve as a tool to inform residents, community health leaders and elected officials about policies and best practices for better health outcomes.

For the second time since 2018, Falls Church, Virginia claims the top spot in the rankings with the highest overall score, achieving top 20 results across five of the 10 categories, including a No. 1 ranking in Education, No. 4 ranking in Population Health and No. 6 ranking in Economy. However, Falls Church lands outside the project's threshold for the top-performing communities in the Equity and Housing categories.

Los Alamos County, New Mexico, the No. 1 community in the previous three editions of the rankings, takes the overall No. 2 spot this year, with high marks in Housing (No. 1) and Population Health (No. 2). Rounding out the top five are Douglas County, Colorado at No. 3, Sioux County, Iowa at No. 4 and Hamilton County, Indiana at No. 5.

"Evaluating community health is crucial as we consider the well-being of citizens across our country," said Julia Haines, U.S. News data editor. "The Healthiest Communities rankings examine which communities offer the greatest opportunity to live a healthy, productive life. They also highlight that even the 'healthiest' communities struggle in certain areas."

Additional key findings from the 2024 edition of Healthiest Communities include:

• Northern Virginia and Iowa are each home to four of the top 20 Healthiest Communities. These include Falls Church (No. 1), Fairfax County (No. 14), Fairfax city (No. 15) and Arlington (No. 19) in Northern Virginia, and Sioux County (No. 4), Dallas County (No. 6), Bremer County (No. 9) and Grundy County (No. 18) in Iowa.
  
  
• The states with the highest average overall community-level scores in the analysis are Rhode Island, Iowa and New Hampshire, whereas the lowest average scores are found in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.
  
  
• Five of the top 10 communities with the longest life expectancy are in Colorado: Summit County (93), Pitkin County (92.7), Eagle County (88.9), San Miguel County (88.3) and Ouray County (87.5). Despite its high life expectancy, Ouray County was not assessed for the rankings.
  
  
• Two metrics address disparities by census block groups or tracts within a county. Falls Church, Virginia, leads with the lowest neighborhood disparity in poverty, while Weston County, Wyoming, excels with the lowest neighborhood disparity in educational attainment.
  
  
• The gender wage gap is most prevalent in Eureka County, Nevada. Additionally, in eight counties in Georgia and seven in New Mexico, among others, women's median earnings meet or exceed those of men.

The 2024 Healthiest Communities rankings and accompanying analysis are based on an evaluation of approximately 2,800 communities nationwide. The project looks at how counties and county equivalents perform across 92 health and health-related metrics to capture how they best serve their residents in 10 main categories: Community Vitality, Economy, Education, Environment, Equity, Food & Nutrition, Population Health, Housing, Infrastructure and Public Safety. The top 500 counties receive a ranking.

To compile the rankings and create the overall Healthiest Communities project, U.S. News partnered with the University of Missouri Extension Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems (CARES), a research institution skilled in community health assessment. Overall, the rankings are based on metrics drawn from sources such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

New measures added to the analysis this year to better reflect health-related challenges facing communities and continual efforts to achieve gender parity include a county's food insecurity rate; its rate of mortality tied to flu, influenza, pneumonia and COVID-19; and the size of its gender wage gap. For more information, read the methodology.

2024 Healthiest Communities - Top 10
*See the full rankings here.

1. Falls Church, Virginia
2. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
3. Douglas County, Colorado
4. Sioux County, Iowa
5. Hamilton County, Indiana
6. Dallas County, Iowa
7. Ozaukee County, Wisconsin
8. Carver County, Minnesota
9. Bremer County, Iowa
10. Morgan County, Utah

2024 Key Measures

Top 5 Communities for Health Outcomes

1. Marin County, California
2. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
3. Carver County, Minnesota
4. Hunterdon County, New Jersey
5. Arlington County, Virginia

Top 5 Communities for Access to Health Care

1. Suffolk County, Massachusetts
2. Olmsted County, Minnesota
3. Montour County, Pennsylvania
4. Perry County, Kentucky
5. Salem, Virginia

Top 5 Communities for Mental Health

1. Honolulu County, Hawaii
2. Santa Clara County, California
3. Fairfax County, Virginia
4. Wayne County, Nebraska
5. San Mateo County, California

Top 5 Communities for Health Equity

1. Adair County, Missouri
2. Pitkin County, Colorado
3. Franklin County, Missouri
4. Coles County, Illinois
5. Tuscarawas County, Ohio

To view the full rankings and search county profiles, visit www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/rankings. For more information on the 2024 Healthiest Communities, follow coverage on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) using #HealthiestCommunities.

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News, Real Estate and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

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SOURCE U.S. News & World Report, L.P.