Two cities in Connecticut ranked low on WalletHub’s list of the “Healthiest and Unhealthiest Cities in America.”
The financial company ranked 182 U.S. cities on its list, comparing each city using four key categories: health care, food, fitness and green space. Using those categories, 41 metrics were graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the “most favorable conditions for a healthy lifestyle,” according to WalletHub.
Bridgeport ranked at No. 89 on the list, ranking No. 60 in health care, No. 121 in food, No. 138 in fitness and No. 9 in green space. The city received a total score of 46.15.
New Haven ranked at No. 108 on the list, ranking No. 51 in health care, No. 111 for food, No. 162 in fitness and No. 31 in green space. The Elm City received a total score of 44.36.
The top five “healthiest” cities in the U.S. according to WalletHub’s rankings are San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Portland, Oregon.
The five “unhealthiest” cities in the nation are Fort Smith, Arkansas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Laredo, Texas; Gulfport, Mississippi and Brownsville, Texas.
Some of WalletHub’s metrics for health care included premature death rate, number of mental health counselors per capita, costs of medical and dental visits, quality of public hospital systems, hospital beds per capita and the share of adults who visited a doctor or dentist in the past year.
For food, WalletHub evaluated factors like healthy restaurants per capita, Google search interest for “healthy eating,” share of obese residents, farmer’s markets per capita and dietitians and nutritionists per capita.
In the fitness category, some of WalletHub’s metrics included fitness and instruction centers per capita, weight-loss centers per capita, average cost of a fitness club membership, intramural leagues per capita and fitness trainers and aerobics instructors per capita.
For green space, WalletHub evaluated factors such as quality of parks, recreation access, parkland acres per capita, hiking trails per capita and physical activity access.
This article originally published at Two CT cities rank low on WalletHub’s list of ‘Healthiest and Unhealthiest Cities in America’.