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Where to go to eat healthily
The importance of living in an active community
Are you ready to be healthier?
Methodology
About Innerbody
Fair use statement
Health is wealth and a matter of survival, as demonstrated clearly since the pandemic. Being healthy isn’t always just about knowing what to eat and how to exercise; sometimes, your environment makes healthy living harder than it has to be. In some regions of the U.S., there are few options for healthy restaurants or fresh produce. Unhealthy neighbors and communities have also been proven to influence others’ unhealthy behaviors.
In the name of good health, the team at Innerbody Research has compiled thousands of data points to determine the healthiest and unhealthiest states in the United States. We’ve analyzed data from Google search trends, the Yelp API, and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to gather information on factors like the prevalence of healthy restaurants, access to fitness centers, and smoking rates. Read on to determine the state of least resistance for your health goals.
Key takeaways
- California is the healthiest state because of its lower smoking rate and higher amount of fitness and health locations.
- Oregon is the healthiest eating state, with Portland having 1.82 healthy restaurants per 10,000 residents.
- California is the fittest state, with eight of the top 20 fittest cities.
- The five healthiest states — and seven of the top 10 — are western states.
What does it mean to be healthy?
“Healthiest” may be a subjective term, but the data collection presented for the healthiest states is not. Below are averaged meta rankings for each state based on residents’ Google search trends (both fitness and food-related), the number of healthy locations based on the states’ population, and BRFSS data for smoking and health ratings.Non-Smokers▲▼
Reported Good Health▲▼
Healthy Eating Searches▲▼
Gym Searches▲▼
Gyms and Healthy Restaurants▲▼
Metascore▲▼
Alabama
55.18%
77.91%
47.2%
59.0%
19.92%
51.84%
Alaska
50.2%
85.42%
25.8%
43.0%
44.4%
49.76%
Arizona
53.5%
82.89%
72.2%
80.0%
42.47%
66.21%
Arkansas
51.74%
75.65%
48.0%
55.0%
15.45%
49.17%
California
63.03%
85.58%
62.4%
84.0%
83.88%
75.78%
Colorado
56.18%
88.36%
72.6%
100.0%
56.97%
74.82%
Connecticut
54.84%
87.66%
61.0%
59.0%
36.46%
59.79%
Delaware
53.59%
84.57%
43.0%
76.0%
21.13%
55.66%
Florida
49.91%
79.83%
61.0%
89.0%
48.02%
65.55%
Georgia
54.66%
80.55%
59.8%
83.0%
25.56%
60.71%
Hawaii
59.34%
88.01%
62.2%
44.0%
75.05%
65.72%
Idaho
60.16%
85.52%
58.0%
80.0%
26.15%
61.96%
Illinois
60.78%
86.03%
57.0%
78.0%
47.32%
65.83%
Indiana
53.03%
81.77%
52.4%
50.0%
33.2%
54.08%
Iowa
57.27%
86.61%
47.0%
48.0%
21.74%
52.12%
Kansas
54.82%
85.85%
52.8%
54.0%
30.63%
55.62%
Kentucky
49.72%
77.17%
48.4%
52.0%
25.72%
50.60%
Louisiana
53.21%
80.11%
45.4%
57.0%
26.13%
52.37%
Maine
50.22%
85.57%
54.2%
58.0%
19.12%
53.42%
Maryland
56.99%
86.61%
58.0%
55.0%
17.79%
54.88%
Massachusetts
58.59%
88.96%
62.4%
81.0%
44.15%
67.02%
Michigan
54.2%
84.83%
58.0%
69.0%
29.87%
59.18%
Minnesota
56.05%
88.35%
59.0%
47.0%
32.25%
56.53%
Mississippi
59.69%
75.58%
39.4%
57.0%
10.94%
48.52%
Missouri
54.10%
81.34%
56.6%
59.0%
30.88%
56.39%
Montana
54.51%
86.37%
43.8%
49.0%
17.56%
50.25%
Nebraska
59.69%
87.11%
45.6%
48.0%
31.82%
54.44%
Nevada
53.79%
81.98%
63.2%
59.0%
75.09%
66.61%
New Hampshire
50.30%
86.39%
55.8%
65.0%
23.36%
56.17%
New Jersey
57.23%
87.77%
58.4%
91.0%
21.85%
63.25%
New Mexico
55.8%
82.94%
56.6%
51.0%
42.25%
57.72%
New York
56.12%
86.99%
68.8%
67.0%
26.14%
61.01%
North Carolina
56.38%
84.73%
57.4%
95.0%
36.0%
65.90%
North Dakota
57.06%
86.04%
35.4%
51.0%
9.95%
47.89%
Ohio
50.92%
82.43%
56.4%
68.0%
34.79%
58.51%
Oklahoma
51.83%
79.38%
49.8%
71.0%
26.28%
55.66%
Oregon
56.19%
86.12%
77.0%
66.0%
57.18%
68.50%
Pennsylvania
56.02%
85.98%
52.8%
74.0%
22.9%
58.34%
Rhode Island
53.79%
86.39%
54.6%
74.0%
60.51%
65.86%
South Carolina
55.03%
82.29%
56.6%
68.0%
24.91%
57.37%
South Dakota
54.61%
85.95%
36.0%
41.0%
13.52%
46.21%
Tennessee
51.21%
81.89%
53.2%
59.0%
31.15%
55.29%
Texas
56.93%
79.27%
55.4%
92.0%
36.09%
63.94%
Utah
72.64%
87.80%
67.2%
76.0%
51.65%
71.06%
Vermont
52.32%
87.66%
60.6%
54.0%
20.07%
54.93%
Virginia
56.56%
84.02%
56.0%
72.0%
31.9%
60.10%
Washington
55.87%
85.81%
69.4%
77.0%
48.42%
67.30%
West Virginia
50.63%
75.41%
35.4%
51.0%
3.42%
43.17%
Wisconsin
53.79%
86.86%
54.0%
46.0%
33.35%
54.80%
Wyoming
54.04%
85.92%
36.8%
48.0%
7.56%
46.46%
Due to a combination of a dozen health-related factors, California is the number one healthiest state in 2022, with a high metascore of 75.78%. Overall, California even ranked higher than states with lower obesity rates, like Washington and Colorado. This state’s residents were more likely to search for gyms and healthy restaurants and smoke fewer cigarettes. However, California still has the single-worst air quality in the country, which wasn’t a factor in this ranking.
West Virginia came in last at just over 43%. Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, and Louisiana didn’t fare well either. While we’ll get into the specifics of these states’ (un)healthy habits shortly, the poor health of southern states has been intriguing researchers for quite some time. Residents of the South die premature deaths more often than elsewhere, offer fewer indoor smoking bans than northern areas, and offer much less walkability between venues. Keep reading to see further insight.
Where to go to eat healthily
Diet is typically considered the most influential factor for overall good health. Let’s look specifically at the number of healthy restaurants and healthy search trends per state and city.
Surprisingly, California doesn’t offer the most healthy restaurants per 10,000 residents. Instead, this title belongs to Oregon, specifically the Portland area, as the city provides 1.82 healthy restaurants for every 10,000 people.
Portland is no stranger to healthy living as it has previously ranked among the top healthiest cities in the U.S. The city offers its residents low-cost medical care, fresh fruits and vegetables, and many hiking trails.
California still fared well as the second-healthiest state from a dietary standpoint. Los Angeles, however, was not within the top 20 healthiest cities for this metric. Instead, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and Long Beach took the top spots. Even Southern cities like Atlanta, Georgia, and Richmond, Virginia, offered more healthy eateries per 10,000 residents than L.A.
The importance of living in an active community
After diet and good nutrition, the most heavily influential factor on a person’s health is exercise. To rank all 50 states from most to least fit, this last piece of research assesses the total number of fitness locations per 10,000 residents and the number of searches for health-related topics. We’ve also included the top 20 fittest cities in the U.S.
Once again, California came out on top as the fittest state. It also had eight cities in the top 20 fittest U.S. cities. In particular, Huntington Beach, San Francisco, and Irvine offered a relatively high amount of gyms and fitness centers. Nationwide gym chains like 24-hour fitness, Gold’s Gym, LA Fitness, and CrossFit originated in California.
Interestingly, it wasn’t a Californian city that offered the most fitness locales for its residents. Instead, Honolulu, Hawaii, took this title with almost 17 fitness centers per 10,000 residents. Three cities in sunny Florida also ranked within the top 20 fittest cities: Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Miami.
Home to gorgeous beaches and more, Fort Lauderdale also ranked very well when it came to cities with the greatest number of healthy restaurants, scoring second and beating even Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Are you ready to be healthier?
Where you live can have a positive or negative influence on your health. According to our study, the surroundings of California and Colorado are conducive to prioritizing healthy living. Overall, these states were the healthiest locations based on data from Yelp, Google, and the BRFSS. A few Florida cities were also highly ranked as they provided residents with plenty of healthy eating and fitness options.Depending on your particular health needs and goals, certain health-related filters, like restaurants or gyms, may not matter to you as much as the next person. Instead, you may be delighted to know that even outside of these states, remote telehealth is now available to you anywhere. To find the most up-to-date research and reviews for your various telehealth needs – whether that be testing, products, or speaking to a professional – Innerbody Research is here to support you on your health journey.
