For the third year in a row, Los Alamos County in New Mexico was named the Healthiest Community in the U.S. in an annual national ranking published by U.S. News & World Report and CVS Health (NYSE:CVS).

What Happened: The Healthiest Communities rankings are based on an evaluation of approximately 3,000 communities, with a data analysis of 89 health and health-related metrics in 10 categories including education, population health, infrastructure and environment.

Joining Los Alamos County in this year's top five rankings are Falls Church, Virginia; Douglas County, Colorado; Morgan County, Utah; and Carver County, Minnesota. Each of the top three counties in this year's rankings has been ranked No. 1 in previous editions of Healthiest Communities studies.

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What Else Happened: Within this year's analysis, four of the top 20 Healthiest Communities were based in Northern Virginia: Falls Church (No. 2), Loudoun County (No. 12), Arlington County (No. 13) and Fairfax County (No. 17).

The states with the highest median overall scores in the analysis were Rhode Island, Minnesota and Iowa, while the lowest are found in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

"We all know the significant impact that social determinants have on the health and well-being of individuals and our local communities," said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, vice president and chief health equity officer at CVS Health. "The data we collect helps us determine the best way to collaborate with communities to develop sustainable solutions and advance health equity in a way that meets their unique needs."

Photo: Shad0wfall/Pixabay.