Story at a glance
- San Francisco was ranked the healthiest city in the U.S. in a new WalletHub analysis.
- Brownsville, Texas came in last place in the ranking.
- San Francisco earned the title of healthiest city in part due to its population’s low obesity rate and easy access to green spaces.
Most Americans are unhealthy, but location matters when it comes to just how unhealthy.
A new WalletHub analysis of 182 of the largest cities in the U.S. and found that San Francisco, Calif. Is the healthiest city in the country.
WalletHub analysts compared the cities across four areas — healthcare, food, fitness and green space — to come up with their ranking.
And each of those areas was evaluated using 41 metrics like pre-mature death rate, access to healthy food, gym membership costs and parks per capita.
“Staying healthy is a personal responsibility, and everyone should strive to eat nutritious food, exercise regularly and look after their mental health,” said Cassandra Happe, a WalletHub analyst, in a statement.
“However, where people live can have a big influence on how successful they are at staying in good health, so the best cities are the ones that provide the greatest access to high-quality healthcare, green spaces, recreation centers, and healthy food.”
WalletHub deemed San Francisco the healthiest city in the U.S. in part because it has the lowest share of obese adults in the country — 19 percent of the population.
On top of this, San Francisco has the second-lowest share of people who eat less that one serving of fruits or vegetables in a day and the entire population lives “reasonably close to a location where they can do some sort of physical activity.”
Here are the top 10 healthiest cities according to WalletHub:
- San Francisco, Calif.
- Honolulu, Hawaii.
- Seattle, Wash.
- San Diego, Calif.
- Washington, D.C.
- Portland, Ore.
- Denver, Colo.
- Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Scottsdale, Ariz.
- Irvine, Calif.
Here are the 10 unhealthiest cities according to WalletHub:
- Brownsville, Texas.
- Gulfport, Miss.
- Laredo, Texas.
- Columbus, Ga.
- Shreveport, La.
- Augusta, Ga.
- Fayetteville, S.C.
- Corpus Christi, Texas.
- Detroit, Mich.
- Huntington, W.Va.