Report: Several California Regions Rank Among Healthiest in U.S.

Several California cities are among the healthiest places in the U.S., according to a new report by NerdWallet, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

Details of Report

The report scored the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. based on their population's fitness levels and access to health insurance (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/6). Specifically, the rankings were based on the:

• Percentage of residents at a healthy weight;
• Percentage of residents who participate in physical activities;
• Percentage of residents who have health insurance; and
• Number of physicians and surgeons per 100,000 residents to gauge access to care.

Findings

Four California metro areas ranked in the top 20 healthiest areas:

• The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Oakland and Fremont, ranked second overall;
• San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara ranked seventh;
• Sacramento, Arden, Arcade and Roseville ranked 11th; and
• San Diego, Carlsbad and San Marcos ranked 16th.

In the Bay Area, the report found that:

• 89% of residents had health insurance;
• 82.6% of residents participated in physical activity; and
• 44.8% were at a healthy weight (NerdWallet report, 1/5).