Underwritten by Microsoft Corp., the Digital Counties Survey examined how county governments have progressed in utilizing information technology to improve the overall delivery of services to their customers and citizens.
Launched in March, the Digital Counties Survey grouped counties into four categories based on population: 500,000 or more; 250,000-499,999; 150,000-249,999; and less than 150,000. All counties in the United States were invited to participate. Officials responded to a set of 17 questions and ranked their jurisdiction according to a four-point scale, providing URLs and background data for final verification and validation. The questions were developed after months of input from recognized local government experts.
In recognition of their achievements, the top-ranked counties were honored at NACo's annual conference Milwaukee.
Congratulations to the top 10 Digital Counties 2003:
Top 10 ranked counties with a population of 500,000 or greater:1st Maricopa County, Ariz.
2nd Miami-Dade County, Fla.
3rd (tie) Orange County, Fla.
4th (tie) Orange County, Calif.
4th (tie) San Diego County Calif.
5th Riverside County, Calif.
6th Los Angeles County, Calif.
7th (tie) Bernalillo County, N.M.
7th (tie) Kent County, Mich.
8th Fairfax County, Va.
9th (tie) Contra Costa County, Calif.
9th (tie) Fulton County, Ga.
10th Mecklenburg County, N.C.
Top 10 ranked counties with a population of 250,000-499,999:
1st Prince William County, Va.
2nd Dakota County, M.N.
3rd Johnson County, Kansas
4th (tie) Lee County, Fla.
4th (tie) Seminole County, Fla.
5th (tie) Ada County, Idaho
5th (tie) Volusia County, Fla.
6th (tie) Greenville County, S.C.
6th (tie) Sarasota County, Fla.
7th Lucas County, Ohio
8th Utah County, Utah
9th Imperial Polk County, Fla.
10th Washtenaw County, Mich.
Top 10 ranked counties with a population of 150,000-249,999:
1st York County, S.C.
2nd Leon County, Fla.
3rd McLean County, Ill.
4th Frederick County, Md.
5th Clermont County, Ohio
6th Hamilton County, Ind.
7th Racine County, Wis.
8th Jackson County, Ore.
9th Carroll County, Md.
10th (tie) Cumberland County, Pa.
10th (tie) El Dorado County, Calif.
Top 10 ranked counties with a population of less than 150,000:
1st Charles County, Md.
2nd (tie) Florence County, S.C.
2nd (tie) Hernando County, Fla.
2nd (tie) Sutter County, Calif.
3rd Stearns County, M.N.
4th Cochise County, Ariz.
5th Skagit County, Wash.
6th Blue Earth County, M.N.
7th Albemarle County, Va.
8th Steuben County, N.Y.
9th Randolph County, N.C.
10th (tie) Eagle County, Colo.
10th (tie) Pennington County, S.D.
10th (tie) Stanly Couny, N.C.
