The 10 unhealthiest cities in America, ranked (2024)

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The list of unhealthiest US cities was determined by factors including doctors per capita, the quality of parks, search interest for "healthy eating," and more.

WalletHub compared 182 of the most populated cities in the US across 43 indicators, "from the cost of a medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption to the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated," according to its 2023 report. Those 43 indicators were then organized into four major categories: food, fitness, healthcare, and green space.

While cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, San Diego, and Salt Lake City were ranked the healthiest cities to live in, these 10 cities came in at the bottom of the list.

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10. Corpus Christi, Texas

According to WalletHub, the South Texas city was mostly brought down by its healthcare score: It ranked 180th out of the 182 cities in the report.

Some of the factors involved in the healthcare ranking were the premature death rate, costs of medicine and doctors visits, the quality of public hospitals, and insurance coverage.

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9. Laredo, Texas

Laredo, interestingly, has the lowest cost of a medical visit. The cost there is almost four times cheaper than in the three cities tied for highest cost: Alaskan cities Juneau and Anchorage and Madison, Wisconsin.

However, that was offset by the city's bottom spot for mental-health counselors per capita. The No. 1 cities in this regard — Spokane, Washington, and Manchester, New Hampshire — have 13 times more mental-health counselors per capita than Laredo, according to WalletHub.

8. Fayetteville, North Carolina

Fayetteville has some of the fewest dietitians and nutritionists per capita, according to the WalletHub report.

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7. Memphis, Tennessee

Among the cities in the report, Memphis has the fifth-highest percentage of adults who are not eating enough fruits and vegetables per day.

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6. Montgomery, Alabama

According to the study, Montgomery is only behind one other city for the lowest number of dietitians and nutritionists per capita. It also came last in the green-space ranking.

The green-space ranking considered the amount of hiking trails and park space per capita, the quality of the parks, walking and biking scores, and recreation access, among others.

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5. Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is tied for the highest premature death rate in the country, which is four times as high as the lowest city, San Jose, California.

4. Columbus, Georgia

Columbus came in at the bottom of the list for healthcare.

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3. Shreveport, Louisiana

According to WalletHub's reporting, Shreveport ranks 179th out of 182 cities for the percentage of physically active adults.

2. Gulfport, Mississippi

Gulfport is in the bottom five for both mental-health counselors per capita and the percentage of adults eating enough fruits and vegetables per day.

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1. Brownsville, Texas

Brownsville, a Texas city with a population of almost 188,000, according to the US Census Bureau, was named the unhealthiest city in the US. It was ranked last for both food and fitness.

Brownsvilledidhave the second-lowest average cost for a medical visit out of the 182 cities in the study. But it was brought down by the lowest number of dietitians and nutritionists per capita and a low percentage of physically active adults.