DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Douglas County has been named the second healthiest county in the nation, according to a list published by U.S. News and the Aetna Foundation. In 2019, Douglas County topped the annual list.
U.S. News is the publisher of "Best Hospitals" and "Best Children's Hospitals," and produces a list of the country's healthiest communities each year.
The rankings are based on 84 metrics drawn in large part from publicly available data sets from reputable sources such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to U.S. News.
According to the rankings, Colorado is home to six of the top ten healthiest counties in the nation. Douglas County (2), Broomfield County (4), Routt County (5), PItkin County (7), Summit County (9) and San Miguel County (10).
The overall Healthiest Communities rankings were drawn from an evaluation of nearly 3,000 counties and county equivalents in the 84 metrics across 10 categories, U.S. News said. Below are the categories used in the rankings and the weights assigned to each one:
- Population Health: 14.2 percent
- Equity: 12.23 percent
- Education: 12.15 percent
- Economy: 11.1 percent
- Housing: 9.5 percent
- Food & Nutrition: 8.8 percent
- Environment: 8.6 percent
- Public Safety: 8.5 percent
- Community Vitality: 7.6 percent
- Infrastructure: 7.5 percent
U.S. News did factor COVID-19 into this year's rankings. There were 12 metrics that were calculated into this year's list. The metrics were:
- COVID-19 cases, total
- COVID-19 cases, rate
- COVID-19 deaths, total
- COVID-19 deaths, rate
- COVID-19 hospitalizations (state-level)
- Unemployment rate
- Percentage of the population over age 65
- ICU beds within 10 miles
- Percentage of adults with poor/fair physical health
- Diabetes prevalence
- Obesity prevalence
- Percentage of cost-burdened households
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