New Jersey's Healthiest Places To Live In 2017

The healthiest places are the wealthiest, and the least healthy are the poorest — so says a 2017 report that ranks New Jersey's healthiest places, from top to bottom, using 35 factors that measure what's needed for a sustainable, quality and comfortable life.

The overall rankings in health outcomes represent how healthy counties are within the state. The healthiest county in the state is ranked No. 1. The ranks are largely based on two types of measures: How long people live and how healthy people feel while alive.

The 2017 report, "County Health Rankings," is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, measuring the health of nearly all counties in the nation and ranking them within states.

The annual survey also evaluates a community's crime rates, income levels, air and water quality and other factors that take into account proximity to stores and parks. The ranks are based on four types of measures: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic, and physical environment factors.

Hunterdon County, which was No. 1, is home to the state's wealthiest people, and northwestern New Jersey is home to the state's pharmaceutical industry. But it also shares some qualities with Cumberland County, which was ranked last: It's a rural, suburban area with farming and open space.

"The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program brings actionable data and strategies to communities to make it easier for people to be healthy in their homes, schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods," according to the report. "Ranking the health of nearly every county in the nation, the County Health Rankings illustrate what we know when it comes to what is making people sick or healthy."

Here is the list of healthiest counties, ranked from top to bottom:

1. Hunterdon
2. Morris
3. Somerset
4. Bergen
5. Sussex
6. Middlesex
7. Monmouth
8. Union
9. Warren
10. Ocean
11. Burlington
12. Mercer
13. Hudson
14. Gloucester
15. Passaic
16. Cape May
17. Atlantic
18. Camden
19. Salem
20. Essex
21. Cumberland

You can read the whole report by clicking here.

Here is some additional information on the top three counties, which made another annual list of the 25 healthiest counties in the country, with a synopsis put together by data compiler 24/7:

18. Hunterdon County, New Jersey


> 5-yr. population change: -1.7 percent
> Nov. unemployment rate: 3.0 percent
> Poverty rate: 4.4 percent
> Life expectancy at birth: 82.2 years

24/7 says Hunterdon, home to wealthy New York City commuters, consists of financially secure individuals and families and a low poverty rate. Even though such places are desirable places to live, the county’s population declined by 1.7 percent over the past five years.

17. Morris County, New Jersey

> 5-yr. population change: +1.7%
> Nov. unemployment rate: 3.2 [pec
> Poverty rate: 4.5%
> Life expectancy at birth: 82.3 years

24/7 says Morris County is one of only 11 counties in the United States with a six-figure median annual household income. The county is within commuting distance of New York City, one of the largest most diverse job markets in the country. Morris County’s 3.2 percent unemployment rate is also well below the 4.6 percent national unemployment rate.

16. Somerset County, New Jersey

> 5-yr. population change: 3.5 percent
> Nov. unemployment rate: 3.3 percent
> Poverty rate: 5.0 percent
> Life expectancy at birth: 82.4 years

24/7 notes that, in Somerset County, 52.5 percent of adults have at least a bachelor’s degree, one of the highest shares of any county and well above the nationwide share of 29.8 percent of adults. The typical household in Somerset earns an annual income of $100,667, 10th highest among all U.S. counties. Somerset also has a 82.4-year life expectancy, more than three years longer than the national life expectancy at birth.

Patch file photo