With health care costs rising and the U.S. facing one of the worst health crises in decades with the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Healthiest & Unhealthiest Cities in America, as well as accompanying videos.
To identify the places where health is a priority, WalletHub compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across 44 key metrics. The data set ranges from the cost of a medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption to COVID-19 cases.| Healthiest Cities | Unhealthiest Cities |
| 1. San Francisco, CA | 173. Lubbock, TX |
| 2. Seattle, WA | 174. Huntington, WV |
| 3. Portland, OR | 175. Jackson, MS |
| 4. San Diego, CA | 176. Fort Smith, AR |
| 5. Honolulu, HI | 177. Montgomery, AL |
| 6. Washington, DC | 178. Memphis, TN |
| 7. Austin, TX | 179. Shreveport, LA |
| 8. Irvine, CA | 180. Gulfport, MS |
| 9. Portland, ME | 181. Laredo, TX |
| 10. Denver, CO | 182. Brownsville, TX |
Key Stats
- Columbia, Maryland, has the lowest share of physically unhealthy adults, 7.80 percent, which is 2.7 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 20.70 percent.
- Laredo, Texas, has the lowest cost per doctor’s visit, $56.00, which is 3.6 times less expensive than in Juneau, Alaska, the city with the highest at $202.50.
- Burlington, Vermont, and South Burlington, Vermont, have the lowest share of adults eating fruit less than once daily, 30.40 percent, which is 1.7 times lower than in Gulfport, Mississippi, the city with the highest at 51.80 percent.
- Glendale, Arizona, and Lewiston, Maine, have the lowest average monthly cost for a fitness-club membership, $15.00, which is 7.1 times less expensive than in Juneau, Alaska, the city with the highest at $107.14.
