Fairfax and Howard lead the way in a recent report on the healthiest counties in the country.
A report released Tuesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin ranks counties across the United States according to "healthiest".
The study ranked counties by several health factors and other areas such as education, access to health care, and unemployment.
The report declared Fairfax County the healthiest Virginia area overall, followed by Arlington, Loudoun, Albemarle and York.
At the bottom of the list is the city of Petersburg, whose rate of premature death was more than double the state average. It also was last in behaviors such as adult smoking and obesity and physical inactivity, and worst in social and economic factors such as education, unemployment and poverty.
On the Maryland side, Howard County was said to be the healthiest, followed by Montgomery, Queen Anne's, Frederick, and Carroll.
Baltimore City was declared the least healthy area in Maryland, with adult smoking habits nearly doubling the national average.
