Here’s the good news: The Midwest has one of the healthiest cities in the country, according to a new study. Unfortunately, it also has the unhealthiest one.
A new survey by BetterDoctor.com ranked Minneapolis as the second healthiest city in the United States, behind only Boston. Cincinnati ranked seventh on the list, while St. Louis came in at number nine. Cleveland hit the number-22 spot.
Unfortunately, those four cities were the only Midwest ones that made the list of BetterDoctor.com’s 25 healthiest U.S. cities.
The Midwest was better represented on BetterDoctor.com’s other list, the 25 least healthiest cities in the country. Milwaukee earned the top spot on this list, while BetterDoctor.com ranked Chicago as the second least healthy city in the country.
Other Midwest cities on this list are Kansas City, Mo., and Columbus, which came in at third and fourth; Nashville; Louisville; Indianapolis; Memphis; and Detroit.
Yes, that’s nine cities on the list you don’t want your city to be on.
What makes Milwaukee, Chicago and the rest so unhealthy? BetterDoctor.com studied population data about exercise rates, eating habits, chronic health problems and disease rates. It also looked at access to parks and recreational activities. The site looked, too, at the percentage of doctors in a state that are highly rated and the percentage of residents with health insurance coverage.