San Francisco is the healthiest metropolitan area in the U.S., according to a report published Aug. 26 by digital health company Sharecare in partnership with the Boston University School of Public Health.
To determine the healthiest metropolitan areas, analysts measured well-being through Sharecare's Community Well-Being Index, which is based on scores and rankings of 383 Census Bureau-defined metropolitan statistical areas and 3,142 counties nationwide.
Sharecare’s Index measures the overall health of communities on the basis of 10 domains representing individual well-being factors — physical, financial, social, community, and purpose — and social determinants of health: healthcare access, food access, resource access, housing and transportation and economic security.
Sharecare and Boston University conducted online surveys in 2020 with 453,705 U.S. residents ages 18 and older and analyzed more than 600 elements of social determinants of health from additional data sources. More information about the methodology is available here.
Here are the five healthiest metropolitan areas, according to the report:
1. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va.
4. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.
5. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.
Here are the five unhealthiest metropolitan areas, according to the report:
1. Pine Bluff, Ark.
2. Farmington, N.M.
3. Sumter, S.C.
4. Las Cruces, N.M.
5. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas