CDC PLACES health outcomes · national

Healthiest Cities in America

The 1660 largest U.S. cities with complete CDC PLACES data, ranked by chronic-disease health outcomes only. This page uses eight CDC prevalence measures, not crime, not housing affordability, and not our separate Community Wellbeing composite (which also weights economic stability and insurance access).

Data updated 2026-08-28

1,660
Cities ranked
79.3
Top score (CA)
25K+
Min population

Top 10 cities by CDC health-outcomes score

Higher score = lower average chronic-disease prevalence across eight PLACES measures

health score

What this shows Each bar is the inverted average of CDC PLACES prevalence percentages for mental distress, physical distress, obesity, smoking, binge drinking, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. A city at 75 scored roughly 10 percentage points lower on average chronic-disease prevalence than one at 50.

Source CDC PLACES 2023 release, modeled city-level estimates As of 2023 PLACES
79.3
Highest health score
Cupertino, CA
20.4%
Avg obesity (top 50)
CDC PLACES prevalence
6.3%
Avg smoking (top 50)
CDC PLACES prevalence
46.3
Lowest score in cohort
Gary, IN

100 Healthiest Cities by CDC Health Outcomes Top 100

1 Cupertino, CA
79.3
2 Saratoga, CA
78.0
3 Redmond, WA
77.7
4 Foster City, CA
77.5
5 Bellevue, WA
77.1
6 Sammamish, WA
77.1
7 Los Altos, CA
77.0
8 Lexington, MA
76.9
9 Milpitas, CA
76.8
10 Princeton, NJ
76.7
11 Mercer Island, WA
76.7
12 Sunnyvale, CA
76.6
13 Potomac, MD
76.6
14 Bethesda, MD
76.4
15 Palo Alto, CA
76.3
16 Arcadia, CA
76.3
17 Cerritos, CA
76.3
18 Fremont, CA
76.2
19 Dublin, CA
76.1
20 Walnut, CA
76.1
21 Issaquah, WA
75.9
22 South Pasadena, CA
75.9
23 Santa Clara, CA
75.8
24 San Ramon, CA
75.8
25 McLean, VA
75.8
26 Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
75.6
27 Parsippany, NJ
75.3
28 Wellesley, MA
75.3
29 Brookline, MA
75.1
30 Irvine, CA
75.0
31 North Bethesda, MD
75.0
32 Manhattan Beach, CA
75.0
33 Oakton, VA
75.0
34 Johns Creek, GA
74.9
35 Ridgewood, NJ
74.9
36 Newton, MA
74.8
37 Diamond Bar, CA
74.8
38 Saratoga Springs, UT
74.6
39 Kirkland, WA
74.5
40 Pleasanton, CA
74.5
41 Lehi, UT
74.4
42 Milton, GA
74.4
43 Wilmette, IL
74.4
44 Belmont, CA
74.4
45 Cambridge, MA
74.3
46 Fort Lee, NJ
74.3
47 Needham, MA
74.3
48 Hoboken, NJ
74.2
49 Kensington, NY
74.2
50 Los Gatos, CA
74.2
51 Menlo Park, CA
74.1
52 Westfield, NJ
74.1
53 Burlingame, CA
74.1
54 Plainview, NY
74.1
55 Seattle, WA
74.0
56 Arlington, MA
73.9
57 Lafayette, CO
73.9
58 Cary, NC
73.8
59 San Carlos, CA
73.8
60 Alpharetta, GA
73.7
61 Edina, MN
73.7
62 Northbrook, IL
73.7
63 Arlington, VA
73.6
64 Dunwoody, GA
73.6
65 Torrance, CA
73.5
66 Union City, CA
73.5
67 Rockville, MD
73.5
68 Ellicott City, MD
73.5
69 Temple City, CA
73.5
70 Harrison, NY
73.5
71 Boulder, CO
73.4
72 Daly City, CA
73.4
73 East Honolulu, HI
73.4
74 Olney, MD
73.4
75 Bothell, WA
73.3
76 Burke, VA
73.3
77 Dix Hills, NY
73.3
78 Sandy Springs, GA
73.2
79 Centreville, VA
73.2
80 Redondo Beach, CA
73.2
81 Claremont, CA
73.2
82 Catalina Foothills, AZ
73.1
83 Culver City, CA
73.1
84 Hillsborough, NJ
73.1
85 Eagle Mountain, UT
73.1
86 Plymouth, MN
73.0
87 Reston, VA
73.0
88 Apex, NC
73.0
89 Lafayette, CA
73.0
90 Highlands Ranch, CO
72.9
91 Pleasant Grove, UT
72.9
92 American Fork, UT
72.9
93 Shoreline, WA
72.8
94 Newark, CA
72.8
95 Danville, CA
72.8
96 Walnut Creek, CA
72.7
97 Eden Prairie, MN
72.7
98 Coral Gables, FL
72.7
99 Ithaca, NY
72.7
100 Vernon Hills, IL
72.7

25 Cities with Highest Chronic-Disease Prevalence 25

The inverse tail of the same ranking, useful for researchers comparing city-level CDC estimates. Scroll the healthiest list above for the full ordered cohort; this section surfaces the lowest-scoring places without a separate URL.

1636 Gary, IN
46.3
1637 Flint, MI
48.0
1638 Marrero, LA
49.1
1639 Youngstown, OH
49.4
1640 Parkersburg, WV
49.5
1641 East Saint Louis, IL
49.8
1642 Saginaw, MI
50.6
1643 Warren, OH
50.7
1644 Gadsden, AL
50.9
1645 Canton, OH
51.2
1646 Monroe, LA
51.2
1647 West Memphis, AR
51.5
1648 Muskegon, MI
52.0
1649 Greenville, MS
52.0
1650 New Iberia, LA
52.0
1651 East Chicago, IN
52.1
1652 Detroit, MI
52.2
1653 Lima, OH
52.3
1654 Mansfield, OH
52.4
1655 Huntington, WV
52.8
1656 Meridian, MS
52.8
1657 Bridgeport, IL
52.8
1658 Bridgeton, NJ
52.8
1659 Jackson, MI
52.9
1660 Morristown, TN
52.9

Methodology

The Health Outcomes Score ranks cities using only CDC PLACES chronic-disease prevalence estimates. Unlike Areazine's Community Wellbeing Cities ranking, this page does not include Census poverty, unemployment, or insurance-access weights.

CDC PLACES measure What it estimates
MHLTHFrequent mental distress
PHLTHFrequent physical distress
OBESITYObesity prevalence
CSMOKINGCurrent smoking
BINGEBinge drinking
CHDCoronary heart disease
STROKEStroke history
DIABETESDiagnosed diabetes

Score calculation

For each city, we average the available PLACES prevalence percentages, require at least six of eight measures, then convert to a 0–100 score where higher is healthier: score = 100 − (average prevalence × 2.5), clamped to the 0–100 range. A city with 12% average prevalence across the eight measures scores 70.

Inclusion criteria

  • Population ≥ 25,000 (Census Bureau ACS 5-year estimates)
  • At least 6 of 8 CDC PLACES health metrics available
  • 1,660 cities met criteria out of 4,640 profiled

Limitations

  • Not crime or safety: FBI crime statistics are not in this score. For crime context see each state's UCR profile.
  • Not economic wellbeing: Poverty and unemployment are excluded by design. See the Community Wellbeing ranking for a composite that includes them.
  • Modeled estimates: CDC PLACES uses BRFSS sampling and small-area modeling; margins are wider in smaller cities (hence the 25,000 population floor).
  • 2023 vintage: PLACES release year; conditions may have changed since publication.

Related rankings

Health outcomes are one lens, compare cities on affordability, growth, or the full wellbeing composite.

CDC PLACES estimates model population health, they do not measure emergency risk or personal safety.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. Health scores computed from CDC PLACES city-level prevalence estimates. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2023.

Download the state-level area profile extract cited on this page: areazine-state-profiles.csv (CC BY 4.0). Method notes live on /statistics and /methodology.