By Michael McDaniel  –  Editorial intern, Phoenix Business Journal

One Arizona county ranks among the healthiest communities in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The publication’s new rankings place Yavapai County in central Arizona at No. 478 among the nation’s 500 healthiest communities in 2021. U.S. News & World Report analyzed several health-based factors including population health, equity, education and the economy, in nearly 3,000 counties throughout the country to compile the list.

Yavapai County also ranked No. 8 in the urban up-and-coming category, while Greenlee County at the border with New Mexico ranked No. 19 in the rural up-and-coming category (and No. 821 in the full rankings). Maricopa and Pima counties were not ranked in the list of the 500 healthiest communities.

The rural up-and-coming ranking contrasts factors like barriers to health care and economic opportunity to ease of home ownership. Whereas urban up-and-coming rankings contrast barriers in healthy living to unique and innovative opportunities to impact health.

“We’ve ranked very highly within healthy behaviors, things like healthy eating, getting outside and enjoying recreational activities more often, said Leslie Horton director of Yavapai County Community Health Services. “One of the benefits we have here in Yavapai County is that we’re a very beautiful place with temperate climate, so that people can really enjoy the outdoors all year round.”

The healthiest community in the U.S. was Los Alamos, New Mexico, which takes the honor for the second year in a row.

Counties that scored well in the community vitality category tended to have lower Covid-19 case rates. More than half of the counties that made the top 500, such as Los Alamos, had lower Covid-19 case rates than the national average, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The U.S. News Healthiest Communities rankings are based on data provided by the University of Missouri Extension Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems, which sourced county data from a number of public institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The data was sorted into a number of individually weighted categories chosen by public health experts. Population health — which includes health conditions, health outcomes and access to care — was weighted the highest. Other categories include equity, education, economics, public safety, housing, food and nutrition, community vitality and infrastructure.