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The Most Health-conscious Cities in America

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Updated
Whether for longevity or vanity, the importance of being healthy has moved to the forefront of American culture. Rising healthcare costs, for one, make taking proactive steps to better your health that much more important.
joggers near a lake
joggers near a lake Source: Getty Images

Whether for longevity or vanity, the importance of being healthy has moved to the forefront of American culture. Rising health care costs, for one, make taking proactive steps to better your health that much more important.

Though numerous studies have been conducted to show which cities in the U.S. have the healthiest residents, these studies fail to address how well those cities are set up to assist and accommodate residents in starting or continuing to have healthy lifestyles.

Though the choice to live a healthy lifestyle is personal, cities, governments and nonprofit organizations can play vital roles in supporting or discouraging a person’s overall health and well-being. In this study, we attempted to identify the cities best and worst equipped for healthy lifestyles. (Data limitations forced us to restrict our ranking to 98 population centers, with western cities somewhat overrepresented and smaller cities, especially in the east, underrepresented.)

Before we get to our top five and full rankings below, here are three quick takeaways from our findings:

  • The West stood out. Even acknowledging the overrepresentation of western cities in our grouping, the West as a whole ranked very well. Nine of the top 10 overall ranked cities are located in the western part of the U.S.
  • Colorado conquers. Colorado had three cities in the top 20 overall.
  • The Midwest falls down on food. Twenty-two of the 24 worst-ranked cities for health food proximity were all in the Midwest.

The most health-conscious cities

When determining the overall ranking of these cities, we gave the greatest weight to per-capita access to the amenities that would help residents to be active. The factors of next importance were the quality, access and affordability of healthy-food options available to residents, followed by environmental factors, including air and drinking-water quality. We also looked at the current health and habits of the city’s residents.

1. Portland, OR

  • Amenities: 19
  • Access to healthy food: 6
  • Residents' health: 6
  • Environmental factors: 19

2. Washington, D.C.

  • Amenities: 16
  • Access to healthy food: 14
  • Residents' health: 4
  • Environmental factors: 41

3. Colorado Springs, CO

  • Amenities: 47
  • Access to healthy food: 13
  • Residents' health: 2
  • Environmental factors: 6

4. Sacramento, CA

  • Amenities: 17
  • Access to healthy food: 16
  • Residents' health: 17
  • Environmental factors: 43

5. Irvine, CA

  • Amenities: 3
  • Access to healthy food: 3
  • Residents' health: 12
  • Environmental factors: 91

All of the best

The five above were tops, but 93 other cities were also considered. Where did yours rank?

Rank
City
State
Ammenities
Food & Access
Residents
Environmental 1
Portland
OR
19
6
6
19 2
Washington
DC
16
14
4
41 3
Colorado Springs
CO
47
13
2
6 4
Sacramento
CA
17
16
17
43 5
Irvine
CA
3
3
12
91 6
San Diego
CA
25
9
18
48 7
Seattle
WA
15
34
23
29 8
Denver
CO
21
23
3
60 9
Tucson
AZ
41
26
37
3 10
Chula Vista
CA
46
8
9
47 11
Oakland
CA
44
22
15
25 12
Buffalo
NY
34
1
59
44 13
Orlando
FL
27
40
50
5 14
San Francisco
CA
51
15
19
26 15
Norfolk
VA
9
67
45
9 16
San Jose
CA
42
17
20
46 17
St. Petersburg
FL
8
39
51
50 18
Tampa
FL
11
37
52
49 19
Aurora
CO
45
20
1
59 20
Virginia Beach
VA
13
68
46
10 21
Jacksonville
FL
26
53
48
14 22
Corpus Christi
TX
36
21
78
27 23
Cincinnati
OH
2
46
72
55 24
Boston
MA
38
70
5
7 25
Minneapolis
MN
1
96
29
17 26
Madison
WI
22
73
54
2 27
Reno
NV
55
43
28
13 28
Boise
ID
29
71
38
12 29
Long Beach
CA
49
10
13
88 30
Pittsburgh
PA
6
56
67
54 31
Atlanta
GA
12
44
56
73 32
St. Paul
MN
14
92
30
18 33
Raleigh
NC
10
77
65
22 34
Arlington
VA
4
83
43
42 35
Fremont
CA
86
19
10
24 36
Milwaukee
WI
23
65
55
32 37
Albuquerque
NM
64
41
41
8 38
Durham
NC
35
62
63
11 39
Riverside
CA
57
7
16
96 40
Henderson
NV
32
51
25
68 41
Baltimore
MD
28
61
42
53 42
Stockton
CA
66
5
22
86 43
Omaha
NE
18
87
58
21 44
New York
NY
48
30
60
66 45
Anaheim
CA
83
2
7
90 46
Bakersfield
CA
76
12
8
87 47
St. Louis
MO
24
76
69
38 48
Greensboro
NC
43
72
64
15 49
Detroit
MI
37
31
68
85 50
Glendale
AZ
40
48
33
81 51
Scottsdale
AZ
30
57
36
84 52
Chesapeake
VA
39
66
44
50 53
Austin
TX
71
27
77
28 54
Santa Ana
CA
80
4
21
92 55
Los Angeles
CA
81
11
14
89 56
Plano
TX
31
59
87
50 57
Cleveland
OH
5
82
73
72 58
Chicago
IL
7
94
53
67 59
Chandler
AZ
56
45
31
79 60
Columbus
OH
69
33
74
51 61
Lincoln
NE
54
97
57
1 62
Anchorage
AK
68
98
24
4 63
Dallas
TX
59
35
79
74 64
Hialeah
FL
58
79
47
34 65
Lexington/Fayette
KY
50
85
89
16 66
Philadelphia
PA
33
86
66
62 67
Miami
FL
61
80
49
35 68
Fresno
CA
97
18
11
94 69
Garland
TX
62
36
82
75 70
Winston-Salem
NC
53
69
61
57 71
Baton Rouge
LA
20
90
95
58 72
Gilbert
AZ
72
47
32
80 73
San Antonio
TX
85
24
88
52 74
Mesa
AZ
70
49
34
82 75
Las Vegas
NV
77
55
26
69 76
Irving
TX
65
38
84
76 77
Fort Worth
TX
75
28
81
78 78
Kansas City
KS
60
81
70
37 79
Houston
TX
74
25
83
95 80
Jersey City
NJ
98
42
39
65 81
Fort Wayne
IN
73
75
93
20 82
Phoenix
AZ
82
52
35
83 83
Lubbock
TX
78
29
86
93 84
North Las Vegas
NV
92
58
27
70 85
Arlington
TX
91
32
76
77 86
Nashville/Davidson
TN
63
88
92
30 87
Tulsa
OK
52
93
98
39 88
El Paso
TX
84
50
80
63 89
Toledo
OH
95
64
75
31 90
Wichita
KS
90
74
71
33 91
Laredo
TX
96
54
85
45 92
Memphis
TN
67
89
91
40 93
Charlotte/Mecklenburg
NC
88
60
62
71 94
Newark
NJ
93
78
40
64 95
New Orleans
LA
87
91
96
23 96
Louisville
KY
79
84
90
56 97
Indianapolis
IN
94
63
94
61 98
Oklahoma City
OK
89
95
97
36

The top (and bottom) five cities for...

In this space, we look at the best and worst cities for healthy living per their rankings in our four categories of consequence.

Amenities

You can always choose to work out at home with no fitness equipment at your disposal, but having access to proper facilities can go a long way in helping you on your fitness and health journey. We looked at eight fitness-related amenities in each city, including each city’s number of gyms, sporting goods stores, recreation centers, baseball diamonds, basketball hoops, tennis courts, park spending and playgrounds.

Rank
City
State
1MinneapolisMN
2CincinnatiOH
3IrvineCA
4ArlingtonVA
5ClevelandOH
Rank
City
State
98Jersey CityNJ
97FresnoCA
96LaredoTX
95ToledoOH
94IndianapolisIN

Access to healthy food

Maintaining a proper diet comprising quality food is extremely important in living a healthy lifestyle. As important as this is, some cities’ residents have significantly less access to healthy food options. We reviewed organic crop prevalence and the proximity of residents to health food options. We also looked at the grocery cost of living for each city as well as which cities allowed those residents on government assistance programs to access higher quality, healthy food options.

Rank
City
State
1BuffaloNY
2AnaheimCA
3IrvineCA
4Santa AnaCA
5StocktonCA
Rank
City
State
98AnchorageAK
97LincolnNE
96MinneapolisMN
95Oklahoma CityOK
94ChicagoIL
[/column]

Residents' health

Though your choice to be healthy is ultimately a personal decision independent of your neighbors, the habits and health of those around you will still have an effect on your health. The data points for this section were all state-based, but they still help to paint an accurate picture of the cities studied.

Rank
City
State
1AuroraCO
2Colorado SpringsCO
3DenverCO
4WashingtonDC
5BostonMA
Rank
City
State
98TulsaOK
97Oklahoma CityOK
96New OrleansLA
95Baton RougeLA
94IndianapolisIN

Environmental factors

No matter how many healthy choices you make, you are still going to be subjected to your environment and the risk factors it brings to the table. Drinking water and air quality were assessed, as both have big effects on residents’ health. That said, there are ways to overcome poor drinking water quality (such as with filters or bottled water) and poor air quality (for example, with air filters and by monitoring air quality forecasts).

The number of conservation organizations, parkland area and farmer’s markets per 100,000 residents was also assessed, as these factors help give a more rounded view of a city’s overall environmental health.

Rank
City
State
1LincolnNE
2MadisonWI
3TucsonAZ
4AnchorageAK
5OrlandoFL
Rank
City
State
96RiversideCA
95HoustonTX
94FresnoCA
93LubbockTX
92Santa AnaCA

Experts' Take

To vary our coverage of the best cities for healthy living, we put the data aside and sought out experts for answers to questions of concern.

Casey Milliken

Casey Milliken

Milliken is the general manager of Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, NV

What makes a great city for living healthfully?

The most important factor a city can offer in regards to public health is education in the classroom at a young age. Poor eating habits are learned in adolescence, and it is exponentially harder to break these habits the older we get. It is vitally important that kids learn what foods to eat, how often they should eat, what times they should eat and also how to shop for and prepare their own food. Equipped with these tools, a person can maintain a healthy lifestyle and even save money. It's a win-win!

Matthew J. Seymour

Matthew J. Seymour

Seymour is the chief sales officer of CleverTraining.com in Indian Rocks Beach, Fl

What makes a great city for living healthfully?

I think that it is important for a city to offer free, safe and easily accessible running and cycling trails for their residents to use. Exercising in nature can be relaxing and help to create healthy habits.

Joe Stevens

Joe Stevens

Stevens is the CEO of goSTATZm a cloud-based fitness trainer software in Katy, TX

What makes a great city for living healthfully?

The access of healthy food options is a critical factor to helping a person be healthier. Many areas in the U.S., particularly lower-income urban areas could have more healthy options other than fast food, high fat, lower quality options. Too many residents are faced with the painful decision of eating affordable versus eating healthy, due to the lack of options available in their neighborhoods.

Methodology

We analyzed 98 cities across the U.S., using 17 factors from seven different data sources. Attempts were made to include other cities, but insufficient data was available to do so. Some of the data we collected was state-specific only; while accurate, such data was given less weight in our final calculations.

There were also rare instances when data for a particular data point in a city was not available. If this was simply because of underreporting, a neutral value was applied to the city. If this was because the city fell below the listing because of lack of quality or amenities, the lowest ranking value was applied to the city.

Our final ranking of cities is a combination of all 17 factors grouped into four categories: fitness and recreation amenities, access to healthy food, environmental factors and current residents’ health habits.

The most weight (35%) was given to fitness and recreation amenities as we felt it had the most significant and broadest implications. Slightly less weight (30%) was given to healthy food access as we felt these amenities were less prevalent in some areas. A lower weight still (20%) was given to environmental factors, since we judged these to have a smaller impact on one’s ability to be healthy. The lowest weighting (15%) was given to current residents’ health habits, since choosing to be healthy is ultimately an individual choice.

Below we break down each data point in each category and provide the source of the data.

Fitness and recreation amenities (35%)

  1. Gyms per 10,000 residents — Time Magazine Study (2010)
  2. Number of sporting goods stores — U.S. Census Bureau (2012)
  3. Recreation centers per 20,000 residents — The Trust for Public Land (2015)
  4. Ball diamonds per 10,000 residents — The Trust for Public Land (2015)
  5. Basketball hoops 10,000 residents — The Trust for Public Land (2015)
  6. Playgrounds per 10,000 residents — The Trust for Public Land (2015)
  7. Tennis courts per 10,000 residents — The Trust for Public Land (2015)
  8. Parkland spending per resident — The Trust for Public Land (2015)

Health food and availability (30%)

  1. Organic crop acreage — U.S. Department of Agriculture (2013)
  2. Grocery cost of living — Cost of Living Index (2010)
  3. Percentage of census tracts with health food in close proximity — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014)
  4. Percentage of farmers markets that accept SNAP benefits — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012)
  5. Percentage of farmers markets that accept WIC benefits — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012)

Natural and environmental factors (20%)

Our environmental factors rating was calculated using a ranking from a previous ValuePenguin study on the country’s greenest cities. The data used in that study included a combination of six data points from five sources.

  1. Most environmentally friendly cities — ValuePenguin (2016)

Current residents’ health habits (15%)

  1. Adults meeting exercise standards — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013)
  2. Adults engaging in no physical activity — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014)
  3. Percentage of adults age 18 years and older who are obese — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014)