Santa Rosa makes WalletHub’s list of ‘Healthiest Cities in America’

Santa Rosa was listed among the healthiest cities in the United States, according to a report out this week by financial website WalletHub.

Santa Rosa made into the top third of WalletHub’s list of “2023’s Healthiest & Unhealthiest Cities in America,” and was ranked 53 out of 182 listed cities, between Yonkers, New York, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

To put together the ranking, WalletHub looked at the most populated U.S. cities and gathered data related to each city’s health care, food, fitness, and green spaces.

Health care rankings included cost and availability of doctors and percentage of residents full vaccinated against COVID-19, while food rankings ranged from farmer’s markets per capita to Google search interest in “Healthy Eating.” Fitness rankings took into account the number of gyms and weight-loss centers and instructors per capita, while green spaces encompassed quality of parks and outdoor options.

Santa Rosa scored higher in fitness (47) and food categories (54) than it did in outdoor spaces (61) and health care (67).

Just down the road, San Francisco topped the list of healthiest cities, boosted by number one rankings in food and green space categories. Seattle, Washington, took the number two spot, followed by Honolulu, Hawaii, San Diego and Salt Lake City, Utah, rounding out the top five.

The most unhealthy city in the country was Brownsville, Texas, according to WalletHub.

Other California cities to rank high on the healthy side of the list include Irvine (No. 10), Huntington Beach (No. 17), Fremont (No. 19), Oakland (No. 21) and San Jose (No. 22).

California cities ranked toward the bottom, or unhealthy, side of the list include Fontana (No. 159), Moreno Valley (No. 152), San Bernardino (No. 147) and Bakersfield (No. 146).