Two Central Jersey counties are among the 50 healthiest in the United States.
Hunterdon ranked 35th in the survey by U.S. News & World Report while Somerset ranked 47th.
The survey also ranked Hunterdon as the fourth best community in the nation for health outcomes.
Middlesex was ranked 277th while Union County did not make the list of the top 500. The rankings included only the top 500 of nearly 3,000 counties across the country.
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Healthiest counties in NJ
- 16. Morris (87 overall score)
- 35. Hunterdon (83)
- 41. Bergen (81)
- 47. Somerset (81)
- 123. Monmouth (75)
- 237. Sussex (71)
- 248. Burlington (70)
- 277. Middlesex (69)
- 351. Warren (67)
- 371. Gloucester (66)
The counties not ranked in the top 500:
- Mercer (61 overall score)
- Hudson (59)
- Ocean (58)
- Cape May (54)
- Camden (54)
- Passaic (53)
- Union (52)
- Essex (52)
- Atlantic (48)
- Salem (48)
- Cumberland (34)
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The rankings were determined by 92 metrics across 10 categories: community vitality, equity, economy, education, environment, food & nutrition, population health, housing, infrastructure and public safety.
U.S. News collaborated with the University of Missouri Extension Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems (CARES) to collect and analyze data. In addition, U.S. News convened a panel of independent experts to help assign weightings for each category, including members of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics.For the past two years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute has ranked Hunterdon County as the healthiest county in New Jersey.Â
The healthiest county in America, according to the U.S. News survey, is Falls County, Virginia, a Washington, D.C., suburb. Others in the top five were Los Alamos County, New Mexico; Douglas County, Colorado; Sioux County, Iowa and Hamilton County, Indiana.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com