Well, it looks like our love of nature and farm-to-table food is really paying off! WalletHub recently compiled a list of the healthiest cities in the U.S. for 2020, and a whopping eight Northern California cities made the list. In fact, the #1 spot on the list was taken by our very own Bay Area metropolis San Francisco. If you value a healthy lifestyle, it seems like NorCal is the place to be. Read on to learn about how WalletHub compiled this list and what factors went into figuring out the healthiest places to live in America.
It turns out location can really make a difference when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. A recently published list of the healthiest cities in the U.S. from WalletHub shows just that, but it doesn't look like Northern Californians have a lot to worry about.
After comparing more than 170 of the most populated cities in the country, WalletHub was able to determine the healthiest destinations across the nation. They used 43 key indicators of good health, including everything from the cost of a medical visit to fitness clubs per capita.
Northern California, in particular, had a large presence on the list. Not only did we have eight cities make the list, but coming in at the number one spot was our very own San Francisco. Honestly, we couldn't agree more!
Rankings were made by giving each city a total health score based on four different factors: health care, food, fitness, and green space. Each of these factors was graded using 43 relevant metrics. For instance, the health care ranking was determined using metrics like family doctors per capita, hospital beds per capita, and number of adults who visited a doctor in the past year.
Ranked #1, San Francisco was given a total health score of 73.99 and received #1 rankings in food and green space, a #4 ranking in fitness, and #29 ranking in health care. Other Northern California cities that were featured on the list include Sacramento (ranked 26th overall), Santa Rosa (ranked 36th), Oakland (35th), Fremont (18th), and San Jose (20th.)
Other cities that made it lower down the list were Stockton (ranked 151st) and Modesto (ranked 105th.) It's evident that WalletHub used some thorough methodology in coming up with this list, and seeing how California cities stacked up against each other is really fascinating.
It's easy to see why Northern California made such a splash on this list when you consider our region's intense farm-to-fork culture, love of the outdoors, and abundance of population centers with world-class hospitals. Get a more in-depth analysis of WalletHub's findings and visit the complete list here.
