Loudoun County Named Among 2020 Healthiest U.S. Communities

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Loudoun County has been named the sixth healthiest community in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report.

U.S. News & World Report released the rankings this week in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation. Nearly 3,000 counties and county equivalents were analyzed using 10 categories containing a total of 84 different metrics. Categories and subcategories are derived from community health factors identified by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. The final categories for the U.S. News were developed in coordination with population health experts and include an equity category.

Categories include factors such as access to health care, air and water quality, public safety, housing and community vitality. Communities were given a score out of 100 points based on their performance compared to other places across metrics and categories. The data used for this year's rankings came from a period before the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, community health had not yet been affected by the virus.

Loudoun County, which ranked fourth in 2019 in the annual study, received a score of 85 in 2020. Some of its top category scores were 91 for economy, 90 for population health, and 83 for education. The county's average life expectancy of 83.2 years is higher than the national median of 77.9 years. In addition, it has 6.5 percent of people without health insurance compared to the national median of 10.6 percent.

This year's top five Healthiest Communities scored above the national average in at least eight of the 10 categories. Elsewhere in Northern Virginia, Falls Church ranked third in the nation, while Fairfax County ranked 21st and Arlington County ranked 26th.

Here's a look at the top 10 Healthiest Communities for 2020.

1. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
2. Douglas County, Colorado
3. City of Falls Church, Virginia
4. Broomfield County, Colorado
5. Routt County, Colorado
6. Loudoun County, Virginia
7. Pitkin County, Colorado
8. Carver County, Minnesota
9. Summit County, Colorado
10. San Miguel County, Colorado

See the full list and learn more about 2020's Healthiest Communities.

RELATED: NoVA Suburb Among Money's Best Places To Live In 2020