Healthiest & Unhealthiest Cities in America (2026)

Where you live can have a major impact on your health. Some cities encourage wellness by improving access to fresh, nutritious food and recreational spaces. Others focus on keeping health care affordable or maintaining clean, safe parks for residents. When these essential factors are overlooked, maintaining good health becomes much more challenging.

To identify the cities that place the greatest emphasis on well-being, WalletHub evaluated more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities using 41 key health indicators. The analysis considers everything from the cost of a medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption and the percentage of adults who are physically active.

Main Findings

Healthiest Places to Live in the U.S.

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that city, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

In-Depth Look at the Healthiest Cities

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco is the healthiest city in America, in part because it has the second-lowest share of obese adults in the country, at nearly 18% of the population. This is helped by the fact that San Francisco has the second-lowest share of people who eat less than one serving of fruits or vegetables per day, and 100% of the population lives reasonably close to a location where they can do some sort of physical activity.

The Golden Gate City spends more per capita on parks and recreation than all major cities except one, allowing people to enjoy well-maintained nature and physical activity, and it’s also one of the most walkable and bikeable cities. Many people can get in their daily exercise on their way to and from work, local stores or restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, San Francisco has some of the most healthy restaurants per capita, and it’s one of the best cities when it comes to vegetarian and gluten-free options per capita.

San Diego, CA

San Diego isn’t just a picture-perfect beach city – it’s also the second healthiest city in the country. San Diego ranks 10th nationwide for the number of healthy restaurants, giving residents plenty of options to maintain nutritious eating habits.

Physical wellness is a priority as well. San Diego has the 13th-lowest share of obese adults and the 11th-largest number of weight loss centers, reflecting a strong culture centered on fitness, healthy living, and overall well-being. San Diego residents can get healthy food straight from the source, too, as the city has the seventh-most farmers markets per capita. In addition, residents can stay fit while enjoying beautiful scenery, with the sixth-most hiking trails per capita.

Seattle, WA

Seattle is the third-healthiest city in America, boasting the highest physical activity rates in the country, with 87% of adults participating in the past month. In addition, Seattle is among the top cities of the country when it comes to parks and recreation spending per capita, which ensures that residents have a lot of well-maintained places to stay active.

Seattle residents also search Google for health-related terms like “healthy dinner ideas” and “healthy snacks” more than people in most other cities, which shows that they are interested in maintaining a good diet.

The Emerald City is among the greenest cities in America, too. Having a clean environment and promoting sustainability help boost residents’ health.

The methodology can be found on the full version of the article on WalletHub.