CA's Healthiest Counties: How Did Yours Rank?

CALIFORNIA — Twenty Golden State counties were among the 500 healthiest communities in the nation, according to a recently released report from U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation.

The San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California regions were particularly well-represented in the rankings, though a few Southern California counties also made the cut. Just four California counties cracked the top 100 — all of which were in NorCal.

Here are the California counties that cracked the top 500.

• #35: Placer
• #40: Santa Clara
• #43: San Mateo
• #49: Marin
• #129: Mono
• #205: Contra Costa
• #217: Alameda
• #249: San Luis Obispo
• #250: Sonoma
• #267: Nevada
• #281: Napa
• #284: El Dorado
• #295: Orange
• #348: Ventura
• #354: San Benito
• #400: San Diego
• #402: Inyo
• #404: San Francisco
• #425: Solano
• #492: Santa Cruz

Among the 84 statistics analyzed for the study include those related to access to care, health outcomes, equity, employment, food availability, environment, public safety and transportation in a community. Some 2,900 counties out of the 3,100 in the United States were included in the ranking.

"How well and even how long you live can be shaped by where you live," U.S. News wrote in its report. "Local health outcomes are often driven by factors like a community’s economic performance, the strength of its education system, the availability and affordability of housing and myriad other elements that affect residents’ overall quality of life."

Though no California county cracked the top 10 overall, several performed very well in specific categories analyzed by researchers.

Santa Clara and San Mateo counties ranked in fourth and fifth places, respectively, when it came to mental health.

Santa Clara County ranked fifth when it came to the population health category, which included matters such as health conditions, health outcomes and access to care.

Marin County came in second in the health outcomes subcategory.

Here are the top 10 American communities ranked in the report.

1. Los Alamos County, New Mexico
2. Douglas County, Colorado
3. Falls Church city, Virginia
4. Loudoun County, Virginia
5. Broomfield County, Colorado
6. San Miguel County, Colorado
7. Pitkin County, Colorado
8. Howard County, Maryland
9. Morgan County, Utah
10. Routt County, Colorado

View the complete report here.