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The healthiest community in the nation is right here in Colorado, U.S. News says

Seven Colorado counties landed in U.S. News & World Report's top 20 "Healthiest Communities" for 2019.

The healthiest community in the U.S. is right here in Colorado, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2019 rankings released Tuesday.

Douglas County, located south of Denver, garnered the No. 1 spot in the nation in U.S. News' annual "Healthiest Communities" report.

To compile the rankings, U.S. News assigned more than 3,000 counties a score from 1 to 100 based on 81 metrics across 10 categories:

  • Population health
  • Equity
  • Education
  • Economy
  • Housing
  • Food & nutrition
  • Environment
  • Public safety
  • Community vitality
  • Infrastructure

Douglas County, which has a population of about 350,000, scored above 90 in three categories: economy (100); population health (94.9) and infrastructure (93.8).

It also scored high for environment (84.7) and community vitality (84). 

U.S. News points to Douglas County's green space and trail systems, community-building events, recreation complexes and family activities for playing a role in the rankings.

"Fittingly, Douglas scores well in the Healthiest Communities analysis on measures of park access, walkability and natural amenities," U.S. News says in its report.

Douglas County's median household income stands at $111,000 and about 58 percent of residents 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher. 

"Wealthy, educated populations tend to make – and have the means to make – healthier choices than lower-income and less educated communities," U.S. News.

U.S. News also notes Douglas County's areas for improvement, many of which mirror the state's, which include teen vaping rates and housing and financial security.

Six other Colorado counties made it into the top 20:

  • Broomfield County ranked fifth.
  • Chaffee County ranked 11th.
  • Routt County ranked 14th.
  • San Miguel County ranked 17th.
  • Pitkin County ranked 19th.
  • Boulder County ranked 20th.

U.S. News & World Report is a Washington, D.C.-based digital news and information company. The organization partners with the Aetna Foundation -- an independent charitable and philanthropic affiliate of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) -- to compile the rankings.

> Click/tap here to view the full rankings.

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