Why Scottsdale is considered one of the nation’s healthiest cities

PHOENIX – Here’s to your health, Scottsdale.

The Phoenix suburb is Arizona’s healthiest city and the ninth-healthiest in the U.S., according to a WalletHub analysis published Monday.

The personal finance website compared 174 cities – the 150 most populous plus at least the two largest in each state – in 42 health-related metrics across four categories: health care, food, fitness and green space.

Scottsdale was No. 1 nationally in the fitness category, which includes metrics such as share of adults who exercise and the number of fitness centers and weight loss centers per capita.

“I’m sure residents are not surprised that there are obviously a lot of fitness centers per capita, and people obviously use them,” Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

The Northeast Valley suburb also cracked the top 20 in the categories of health care (12th) and green space (19th).

“Scottsdale also does really well when it comes to food, a lot of farmers markets per capita and healthy restaurant choices,” Gonzalez said.

Peoria was the state’s next healthiest city, checking in at No. 38 overall. The West Valley suburb did especially well in green space, where it ranked 12th nationally.

The other Arizona cities on the list were: Tempe (No.46), Phoenix (No. 51), Chandler (No. 60), Gilbert (No. 77), Tucson (No. 88), Glendale (No. 102) and Mesa (No. 106).

The West Coast dominated the top of the overall rankings, with San Francisco at No. 1 followed in order by Seattle, San Diego and Portland, Oregon.

Texas held down the bottom two spots on the list, with Brownsville ranked as the unhealthiest city, one spot below No. 173 Laredo.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Madison Spence contributed to this report.

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