San Francisco is the healthiest city in the nation, according to a recent ranking from WalletHub.
In fact, several of the healthiest cities in the U.S. were on the West Coast. WalletHub ranked the 180 most populous cities in the U.S. across 43 key indicators of good health, ranging from the cost of a medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption and COVID-19 cases.
The rankings underscore how variable healthcare access and quality is in the U.S. As healthcare prices climb ever higher, not all Americans have the same access to care or ability to pay for it––and that can vary just based on where a person lives.
Here are the top 10 healthiest cities in the U.S.:
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA
- San Diego, CA
- Portland, OR
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Honolulu, HI
- Austin, TX
- Denver, CO
- South Burlington, VT
- Washington, D.C.
While several California cities made the top 10, California was not ranked among the best states for healthcare on WalletHub’s ranking last year. In addition, some of the cities at the very bottom of the list had the lowest cost for a medical visit, including Laredo, Texas, which had the lowest cost overall.
The top five cities with the lowest premature-death rate were all located in California, underscoring there are pockets of health in the state even if the Golden state doesn’t rank high overall. South Burlington, Vermont, was also highly ranked when it comes to the lowest percentage of adults not eating enough fruits/vegetables per day.
Here are the bottom 10 cities on the list:
- Brownsville, TX
- Gulfport, MS
- Laredo, TX
- Memphis, TN
- Jackson, MS
- Charleston, WV
- Shreveport, LA
- Augusta, GA
- Columbus, GA
- Montgomery, AL
See the full list here.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."