Douglas and Pitkin counties are the healthiest in Colorado for the fifth year in a row, while people living in Otero and Bent counties had the shortest and sickest lives.
The annual health rankings compiled by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute attempt to grade counties across the country on two areas: health outcomes and the factors that influence health.
The ranking of counties’ health outcomes combines years of potential life lost from residents dying before age 75; the percentage of people reporting poor health; and the percentage of babies born too small. It correlates strongly with how prosperous a community is.
Douglas County has been in first place on that list and Pitkin County has been in second since 2019.
The health factors ranking includes measures of education and wealth; exposure to pollution; availability of health care; and behaviors like smoking and excessive drinking. While there are exceptions, communities that do well in one area tend to also rank highly in others.
Douglas County was also in first place on the health factors ranking, followed by Pitkin County. Douglas has topped the rankings since 2012, with Pitkin bouncing up and down in the top five since 2015.
While there’s more variation at the bottom of the list, southern Colorado has consistently scored poorly on both health outcomes and factors.
Metro Denver rankings
The Denver area had mixed results and generally followed the pattern of better health in wealthier places:
Adams: 27th in health outcomes, 41 in health factors
Arapahoe: 14th in health outcomes, 22 in health factors
Broomfield: sixth in health outcomes, third in health factors
Denver: 30th in health outcomes, 27th in health factors
Douglas: 1st in health outcomes, 1st in health factors
Jefferson: 11th in outcomes, 10th in health factors
Health outcomes rankings
Five counties weren’t ranked because of insufficient data.
The top and bottom counties for health outcomes were:
1. Douglas
2. Pitkin
3. Eagle
4. Boulder
5. Routt
—
55. Las Animas
56. Conejos
57. Saguache
58. Bent
59. Otero
Health factors rankings
The top and bottom counties by health factors were:
1. Douglas
2. Pitkin
3. Broomfield
4. Ouray
5. Boulder
—
55. Crowley
56. Saguache
57. Bent
58. Las Animas
59. Costilla
As a state, Colorado performed better than the country as a whole on most measures, with the exceptions of the rate of low-birthweight babies and “injury deaths,” which included suicide deaths, homicides, overdoses and car crashes. Suicide was the biggest contributor to the gap.
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