Healthiest Cities in the U.S.: Where Do These Major NJ and PA Cities Rank?

Let's be honest here. Pennsylvania and New Jersey generally get a bad rap when it comes to many things... people, cleanliness, air quality, manners, etc. Okay, okay... some of these stereotypes might be warranted! But let's get more specific... When it comes to health, just how healthy are some of our major PA and NJ cities?

So what do we mean by "healthy"? Think - healthcare affordability, access to wellness/health food stores, consumption of fruits and veggies, cleanliness of parks/fitness and recreational areas, and how much greenery there is (the more greenery, the cleaner the air.) Chances are if your city doesn't stay on top of these things, the less healthy you'll be, which has been even more significant in the past couple of years in the midst of COVID-19.

A new WalletHub study just ranked the 182 healthiest major cities in the U.S. in 2022. 43 key indictors of health were weighed in the four main categories of Health Care, Food, Fitness, and Green Space. Each main category has a maximum score of 25, which means each city gets a grade out of 100 points. Like in school!

Spoiler alert: No one scored 100%.

So how do some of our major cities stack up against the rest of the Country? In ranking of 182 major cities, 1 being the healthiest, and 182 being the least healthy, here's where ours came in.

#29 - Pittsburgh Yep, we're starting at 29. Pittsburgh got a total score 55.41. It Ranked #72 in Healthcare, #19 in Food, #42 in Fitness, and #51 in Green Space.

#59 - Philadelphia At least we're still at the top half of the list here! Philly's a little grittier with a total score of 51.29. Healthcare and Fitness aren't as great ranked at #132 and #110 respectively. But at least it's ranked #22 in Food and #45 in Green Space.

#82 - Jersey City Coming in #82, Jersey City is located more toward the halfway point of this list, veering toward the end of unhealthy. Total score is 48.71, ranked #57 in Healthcare, #31 in Food, #92 in Green Space.... and *whomp whomp whomp* #146 in Fitness.

#137 Newark Let's not get it twisted - Newark isn't an awful place! But in terms of healthy living... ranked at #137, it could use some work. It had an overall score of 41.91, ranked #147 in Healthcare, #76 in Food, #158 in Fitness, and #121 in Green Space.

And in case you're curious, the least healthy city at the bottom of the list is Brownsville TX, and the #1 healthiest city was San Franciso CA. Cue the Full House theme song.

Curios about a specific city? Check out the entire WalletHub map below!