Background: The American Heart Association has identified metrics of ideal cardiovascular (CV) health known as Life’s Simple 7 (LS7), including blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol, cigarette smoking, diet, glucose, and physical activity, to target primary cardiovascular disease prevention. While poor control of these metrics are individually associated with a higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), the association of the combination of these metrics with incident AF has not been evaluated. We determined the relationship between LS7 and incident AF in a cohort of middle and older-aged adults. Methods: The REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke Study is a biracial prospective study of 30,249 individuals. Eligible participants included those without AF who had data on all LS7 components at baseline and completed a follow-up exam 10 years later. An overall LS7 score was calculated as the sum of the LS7 component scores (0 to 2 points per component). This score was classified as inadequate (0-4), average (5-9), or optimum (10-14) CV health. Incident AF was identified at follow-up by either electrocardiogram or a self-reported medical history of a physician diagnosis. Results: 9,576 participants (mean age=63; 57% women; 30% black) were included. In adjusted logistic regression analyses, optimum CV health (referent=poor) and each one point higher LS7 score were associated with a lower incident AF (Table). Associations did not differ by race or gender (interaction p-values of 0.51 and 0.49 respectively). Conclusions: Better CV health, as defined by the LS7 score, is associated with a reduction in the incidence of AF. Further study into whether efforts to improve the population’s CV health lower AF incidence is needed.