HoCo Among 10 Healthiest Communities In Nation: U.S. News

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Howard County is the 10th healthiest community in the U.S., according to a new list compiled by U.S. News & World Report and the Aetna Foundation. For 2019, Howard County jumped from its 2018 ranking; last year, it came in 20th.

To create the rankings, U.S. News and the Aetna Foundation evaluated nearly 3,000 communities across multiple health-related metrics in 10 categories.

HoCo's highest marks came in two categories: population health and economy. In both areas, Howard County scored about 92.

For population health, researchers examined health care access, healthy behaviors, prevalence of health conditions, mental health and resulting health outcomes.

Of note, researchers highlighted these population health stats:

• Life expectancy in Howard County is 83 years, versus the national median of 79.
• Smoking rate is 9.7 percent in Howard County, compared with the national median of 15.6.
• There are 4.4 percent of people without health insurance in Howard County, versus the national median of 9.9 percent.

To measure the economy, researchers assessed employment metrics, along with opportunity and wealth. These were among the highlights:

• The national median poverty rate is 15.1 percent; in Howard County, it's 4.9 percent.
• The median household income in the U.S. is $56,444.571; in Howard County, it's $113,800.
• The national median unemployment rate is 4.4 percent; in Howard County, it's 3.1 percent.
• Across the U.S., 2.7 percent of households receive public assistance income; in Howard County, the number is 1.1 percent.

For 2019, Howard County received an overall health score of 84.9 out of 100.

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: 92
• Equity: 49
• Education: 81
• Economy: 92
• Housing: 58
• Food & Nutrition: 63
• Environment: 55
• Public Safety: 70
• Community Vitality: 66
• Infrastructure: 86

10 Healthiest Communities In U.S.

There are 500 U.S. communities evaluated for the 2019 healthiest communities rankings, released Tuesday through a collaboration between U.S. News & World Report and the Aetna Foundation.

The top spot on the 2019 list goes to Douglas County, Colorado.

Communities in Colorado are among some of the healthiest in the United States, taking seven of the top 20 spots in the 2019 rankings.

Here are the healthiest communities for 2019, according to the rankings:

1. Douglas County, Colorado
2. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
3. Falls Church, Virginia (dropping from the No.1 spot in 2018)
4. Loudoun County, Virginia
5. Broomfield County, Colorado
6. Teton County, Wyoming
7. Hamilton County, Indiana
8. Carver County, Minnesota
9. Delaware County, Ohio
10. Howard County, Maryland

In addition to Colorado, 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.

There were a total of nine Maryland counties on the list:

• Howard County at No. 10
• Montgomery County at No. 71
• Carroll County at No. 240
• Frederick County at No. 301
• Calvert County at No. 313
• Harford County at No. 338
• Anne Arundel County at No. 384
• Charles County at No. 435
• Queen Anne's County at No. 474

Urban And Rural Rankings

Along with the overall healthiest communities rankings, U.S. News also created rankings based on the urban or rural status of individual communities.

Those were grouped into four categories: urban high-performing, urban up-and-coming, rural high-performing and rural up-and-coming.

Below are the top ranked communities in each category:

Urban, High-Performing

• Douglas County, Colorado
• Los Alamos County, New Mexico
• Falls Church City, Virginia
• Loudoun County, Virginia
• Broomfield County, Colorado

Rural, High-Performing

• Teton County, Wyoming
• Chaffee County, Colorado
• Morgan County, Utah
• Routt County, Colorado
• Jefferson County, Montana

Urban, Up-and-Coming

• Houston County, Minnesota
• Hood River County, Oregon
• Bennington County, Vermont
• Island County, Washington
• Marquette County, Michigan

Rural, Up-and-Coming

• Wallowa County, Oregon
• Lincoln County, Washington
• Calhoun County, Iowa
• Iron County, Wisconsin
• Baylor County, Texas

By Patch editors Feroze Dhanoa and Elizabeth Janney.