Healthiest towns in New Mexico
Ranked by our health score from seven CDC estimates: adults in fair or poor health, frequent physical and mental distress, obesity, diabetes, smoking and no exercise. A score of 90 means healthier than 90% of U.S. towns. 72 towns with 2,500+ residents.
1
White Rock
99 / 100
Health Grade A+ · healthier than 99% of U.S. towns
2
Los Alamos
99 / 100
Health Grade A+ · healthier than 99% of U.S. towns
3
Sandia Heights
96 / 100
Health Grade A+ · healthier than 96% of U.S. towns
How this ranking works
We score every town on seven CDC estimates for adults: fair or poor health (as people rate it themselves), frequent physical distress, frequent mental distress, obesity, diabetes, smoking and no exercise. On each one, a town earns the share of U.S. towns that do worse, and those seven shares are averaged. Every U.S. town with 1,000+ residents is then lined up on that average: the health score is the share it beats, so a score of 80 means healthier than 80% of U.S. towns. The same score sets each town’s Health Grade (A+ for the top 5% down to D− for the bottom 5%), shown in the last column.
Wealth and health go together. Higher-income towns usually rank higher, because income shapes insurance, jobs, food and time to exercise. That’s real, and this list shows it as it is. Older towns tend to score lower on diabetes. We leave out high blood pressure, which tracks age more than anything else.
Cities and villages use the CDC’s own estimate for that place. New England towns and townships, which the CDC doesn’t publish, use the ZIP codes that cover them, weighted by land area.
Only towns with at least 2,500 residents are ranked; Census estimates for smaller places are too uncertain. Population and income: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Health estimates: CDC PLACES. Town photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each town’s page.