What are the healthiest counties in the Capital Region?

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2024 Healthiest Communities rankings. The list ranks 500 counties in the United States, and five Capital Region areas made the list.

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- U.S. News & World Report has released its 2024 Healthiest Communities rankings. The list ranks 500 counties in the United States, and five Capital Region areas made the list.

U.S. News looked at 2,800 communities nationwide to see how they performed across 92 health and health-related metrics. The main categories which counties were ranked on were Community Vitality, Economy, Education, Environment, Equity, Food & Nutrition, Population Health, Housing, Infrastructure and Public Safety.

The top 500 counties received a ranking. For the rankings, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Overall, Saratoga County was ranked the highest in the Capital Region at 49, followed by Albany County at 278, Warren County at 304, Rensselaer County at 352, and Columbia County at 452. Here is the breakdown of those rankings.

Saratoga County

• Overall score of 80/100
• Education: 75/100
• Public Safety: 79/100
• Economy: 78/100
• Population Health: 80/100
• Infrastructure: 74/100
• Food & Nutrition: 80/100
• Equity: 80/100
• Environment: 60/100
• Housing: 59/100
• Community Vitality: 44/100

Albany County

• Overall score of 69/100
• Education: 70/100
• Public Safety: 75/100
• Economy: 71/100
• Population Health: 79/100
• Infrastructure: 84/100
• Food & Nutrition: 64/100
• Equity: 50/100
• Environment: 55/100
• Housing: 60/100
• Community Vitality: 33/100

Columbia County

• Overall score of 64/100
• Education: 53/100
• Public Safety: 72/100
• Economy: 63/100
• Population Health: 72/100
• Infrastructure: 59/100
• Food & Nutrition: 83/100
• Equity: 64/100
• Environment: 52/100
• Housing: 40/100
• Community Vitality: 59/100

Rensselaer County

• Overall score of 67/100
• Education: 69/100
• Public Safety: 74/100
• Economy: 70/100
• Population Health: 71/100
• Infrastructure: 79/100
• Food & Nutrition: 62/100
• Equity: 60/100
• Environment: 48/100
• Housing: 56/100
• Community Vitality: 40/100

Warren County

• Overall score of 68/100
• Education: 65/100
• Public Safety: 82/100
• Economy: 59/100
• Population Health: 75/100
• Infrastructure: 67/100
• Food & Nutrition: 65/100
• Equity: 69/100
• Environment: 69/100
• Housing: 46/100
• Community Vitality: 50/100

In 2022, Saratoga County was ranked 60th by U.S. News. To view the full report, you can visit the U.S. News & World Report website.