San Francisco and the East Bay area placed second in a nationwide survey of the healthiest places in America, based on residents’ overall fitness, health insurance and access to medical care, according to the San Francisco-based NerdWallet, a data-analysis tech company.
The Boston area was first overall. San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles and Riverside placed in the top 50, according to the study released this week.
The rankings are based on data that includes the American Fitness Index, the percentage of residents at a healthy weight and who are physically active, as reported by CDC, the percentage of residents who have health insurance and the number of physicians and surgeons per 100,000 residents.
The California metropolitan areas in the top 50 are:
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont placed second with a fitness index of 71; 44.8% at a healthy weight; 82.6% engaged in physical activity; 89% with health insurance; and 421.9 physicians and surgeons per 100,000 population.
- Sunnyvale-San Jose-Santa Clara at seventh with a fitness index of 69.4; 39.7% at a healthy weight; 83% engaged in physical activity; 88.9% with health insurance; and 335.5 physicians and surgeons per 100,000 population.
- Sacramento area placed 11th with a fitness index of 66.9; 40.9% at a healthy weight; 84.7% engaged in physical activity; 85.9% with health insurance; and 318.3 physicians and surgeons per 100,000 population.
- San Diego area placed 16th with a fitness index of 69.2; 41.2% at a healthy weight; 81% engaged in physical activity; 83.7% with health insurance; and 324.1 physicians and surgeons per 100,000 population.
- Los Angeles area placed 33rd with a fitness index of 53.4; 37.5% at a healthy weight; 79.2% engaged in physical activity; 79.8% with health insurance; and 299.4 physicians and surgeons per 100,000 population.
- Riverside-San Bernardino placed 45th with a fitness index of 47.5; 35.1% at a healthy weight; 76.4% engaged in physical activity; 80.6% with health insurance; and 207.4 physicians and surgeons per 100,000 population.