The American Fitness Index scores the country’s 100 largest cities (based on population) on 34 indicators of health. These indicators are broken into two categories: personal health, which measures the health of residents in the community, and community/environment, which measures both efforts that are undertaken by local authorities to promote health and fitness and the scale to which the environment promotes healthy behaviors. Arlington, VA earned the #1 overall ranking in the 2021 ACSM American Fitness Index with a score of 86.1 out of a possible 100. This is the 4^th consecutive year that Arlington has been named the “Fittest City in America.”

 

What makes Arlington so fit?

Arlington ranked first in both the personal health and community/environment sub-scores. At the individual indicator level, Arlington ranked among the top 10 cities for 18 of the 34 indicators in the Fitness Index, with eight indicators ranked #1.

Arlington was ranked #1 for the following indicators:

• Lowest percentage of residents with angina or coronary heart disease (.3%)
• Lowest percentage of residents who smoke (3.5%)
• Lowest percentage of residents with high blood pressure (15.2%)
• Lowest percentage of residents experiencing food insecurity (6.7%)
• Lowest percentage of residents with diabetes (4.2%)
• Lowest percentage of residents with poor physical health in the previous month (24.1%)
• Highest percentage of residents in excellent or very good health (66.9%)
• Highest percentage of residents exercising in the previous month (85.7%)

Arlington ranked in the top 10 for the following indicators:

• Percentage of residents who use public transportation to go to work
• Percentage of residents who consume 2+ fruits per day
• Percentage of residents who sleep 7+ hours per day
• Percentage of residents with poor mental health (lowest)
• Percentage of residents with obesity (lowest)
• Percentage of residents who have experienced a stroke (lowest)
• Bike Score
• Percentage of residents who live within a 10-minute walk to a park
• Number of tennis courts per 10,000 residents

See how the 99 other ranked cities compare to Arlington using the City Comparison Tool.