Boulder Valley counties among healthiest — and most well-off — in state

BROOMFIELD — Broomfield and Boulder counties are two of the healthiest in the state, according to the 2017 County Health Rankings from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The rankings look at health outcomes and the health factors that influence a county’s overall health.

In Colorado, Douglas County was the healthiest, followed by Broomfield and Boulder. That health outcome score is based on how long people live and how healthy they are when they die.

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Douglas was also ranked No. 1 for health factors, scoring well on health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical factors. Pitkin County came in second, followed by Broomfield, Ouray and Boulder.

When it comes to health outcome, factors such as social and economic welfare contributed to about 40 percent of the overall health. In other words, the counties that had the best education, employment, income and social support and safety are also the healthiest.

That tracks for counties such as Boulder, where Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette was considered the best high school in the state by U.S. News Report for 2017. Fairview High School in Boulder ranked No. 7. According to the County Health Report, Boulder and Broomfield had some of the highest education rates, and for social and economic wellness they ranked No. 5 and No. 13, respectively.

For overall health, Larimer County came in at No. 9 while Weld County ranked 17th.