Which City Would Win 'Hunger Games': A Ranking of Fitness in the U.S.
The American College of Sports and Medicine released their annual ranking of the fifty largest metropolitan areas based on fitness and health, creating a baseline of the most athletic and fit cities in the U.S.
The cities are positioned based on access to fitness facilities, parks, health care, prevalence of chronic disease, and preventative health behaviors. Minneapolis is the District 1 of United State exercise ranking, due in large part to the city's generous funding for parks and recreation centers ($227 is spent per capita on city parks).
Just a few points below, with a score of 77.7 out of 100, is the nation's capital, Washington D.C. The gold and silver medal winners were only two cities to achieve gentlemans Cs. The following thirteen cities achieved barely-passing Ds, with 35 of the largest fifty cities failing fitness entirely. The least fit, but perhaps scrappiest, districts in the US? Those would be Detroit and Oklahoma City, which bottom out with scores of 33.6 and 31.2 respectively.
Metropolitan Area / 2013 Score
1. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. /78.2
2. Washington, D.C. / 77.7
3. Portland, Ore. / 69.8
4. San Francisco, Calif. / 68.7
5. Denver, Colo. / 68.1
6. Boston, Mass. / 67.1
7. Sacramento, Calif. / 66.8
8. Seattle, Wash. / 66.7
9. Hartford, Conn. / 66.6
10. San Jose, Calif. / 66.4
11. Austin, Texas / 63.6
12. Salt Lake City, Utah/ 62.5
13. Cincinnati, Ohio / 61.4
14. San Diego, Calif. / 61.3
15. Raleigh, N.C. / 60.3
16. Pittsburgh, Pa. / 59.9
17. Baltimore, Md. / 59.5
18. Virginia Beach, Va. / 58.3
19. Cleveland, Ohio/ 55.1
20. Richmond, Va. / 55.1
21. Atlanta, Georgia / 53.6
22. Providence, RI / 53.5
23. Buffalo, NY / 53.2
24. New York-Northern New Jersey, Long Island / 52.1
25. Philadelphia, PA / 51.2
26. Milwaukee, Wisconsin / 51.2
27. Chicago, Illinois / 50.8
28. Kansa City, Missouri / 50.4
29. Los Angeles, California / 48.3
30. Columbus, Ohio / 48.1
31. Saint Louis, Missouri / 47.1
32. Nashville, Tennessee / 44.5
33. Phoenix, Arizona / 44.0
34. Orlando, Florida / 42.5
35. Riverside, California / 42.5
36. Charlotte, NC / 42.2
37. Jacksonville, Florida, 41.8
38. New Orleans, Louisiana / 41.6
39. Las Vegas, Nevada / 41.6
40. Tampa, Florida / 40.1
41. Birmingham, Alabama / 39.0
42. Miami, Florida / 38.4
43. Houston, Texas / 38.3
44. Dallas, Texas / 37.4
45. Indianapolis, Indiana / 36.8
46. Memphis, Tennessee / 36.0
47. Louisville, Kentucky / 35.2
48. San Antonio, Texas / 35.1
49. Detroit, Michigan / 33.6
50. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma / 31.2
