The American College of Sports Medicine releases the American Fitness Index in July, ranking America’s top 100 cities with healthy lifestyles. In 2024, Arlington ranked first for the seventh year in a row, and Washington D.C. was second followed by Seattle, San Francisco, Madison, Minneapolis, Denver, Atlanta, Irvine, and St. Paul. The ranking is based on healthy behaviors including eating fruits and vegetables; chronic health problems; recreational facilities; air quality; mental health services; and built areas, which includes parks, public transportation, and farmers’ markets. The worst was Oklahoma City, and Memphis was near the bottom as usual. They show poor eating and exercise habits, and a high rate of smoking, along with low numbers of parks and pools.
The organization challenges cities to a fun competition of working their way higher up the list. I’m not sure if I am allowed to attach the full report here, but this is where you can access a summary report, and pick three cities from dropdowns and compare them:
https://www.acsm.org/about/community-impact-programs/american-fitness-index/rankings
