9 NH Counties Among Nation's Healthiest: U.S. World & News Report

Nine New Hampshire counties were ranked among the 500 healthiest Monday by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings, compiled in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation, even had three Granite State counties within the top 35.

U.S. News evaluated 3000 communities across 10 categories to determine the rankings. In addition to the overall rankings, U.S. News also ranked communities across four groups: urban high-performing, urban up-and-coming, rural high-performing and rural up-and-coming. Five New Hampshire counties made those lists.

"Research has shown that in the United States, your ZIP code is a greater predictor of your life expectancy than your genetic code," Mark T. Bertolini, chairman of the Aetna Foundation and chairman and CEO of Aetna, said in a press release. "In other words, where you live has a significant impact on your overall health."
Here's the Massachusetts counties that ranked among the 500 healthiest in the U.S.:

• Rockingham County (16)
• Merrimack County (51)
• Grafton County (71)
• Cheshire County (135)
• Carroll County (141)
• Strafford County (144)
• Hillsborough County (148)
• Sullivan County (167)
• Belknap County (240)

Here are the communities that were ranked in the urban high-performing category:

• Rockingham County (13)
• Merrimack County (39)
• Grafton County (56)
• Cheshire County (100)

Here are the communities that were ranked in the rural high-performing category:

• Carroll County (39)

The top 10 healthiest communities in the U.S. are:

1. Falls Church City, Virginia
2. Douglas County, Colorado
3. Broomfield County, Colorado
4. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
5. Dukes County, Massachusetts
6. Fairfax City, Virginia
7. Hamilton County, Indiana
8. Routt County, Colorado
9. Ouray County, Colorado
10. Loudoun County, Virginia

The rankings were compiled by evaluating how communities performed across 80 metrics in 10 categories: population health, equity, education, economy, housing, food and nutrition, environment, public safety, community vitality and infrastructure. U.S. News collaborated with the University of Missouri Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems (CARES) to collect and analyze data. The data was collected from government and private sources. (Read the full methodology here)

You can see the full rankings here.

(Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images for Dubai Tourism)