Healthline ‘Wellness USA’ Survey Reveals How Health Concerns and Wellness Habits Vary from City to City

Recent Survey Across 18 Major U.S. Cities Also Indicates That Miami Is the Most Health-Conscious City in the U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO – January 22, 2020 – Perhaps it's all that Florida sunshine, because Miami is the most health-conscious city in the U.S., according to the Wellness USA survey released today by Healthline.com, the flagship online health information site of Healthline Media.

The survey looked at 18 major cities across the U.S.—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle—to get a sense of how geography shapes the specific health concerns and wellness habits of city-dwelling Americans from coast to coast.

The survey of 2,020 U.S. adults was conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of Healthline Media from November 2 to November 7, 2019.

A Snapshot of Health Across the U.S.

Looking at the data in aggregate, the vast majority of the Americans surveyed considers their health and well-being a top priority (84%). They also consider themselves “very well-informed” about their health (81%) and feel that they are proactive about their health (80%). Almost two-thirds (74%) say wellness is a way of life for them.

Almost three-quarters (74%) of survey respondents across the 18 cities exercise moderately for 20-30 minutes two or more times a week; 57% exercise vigorously two or more times a week.

Across these 18 cities, Americans’ top five health concerns are:

  • Weight — 41%

  • Anxiety — 38%

  • Lack of sleep — 35%

  • Lack of exercise — 33%

  • Depression — 32%

Miami #1 U.S. City of Wellness

Of the 18 cities included in the survey, residents of Miami put the highest priority on health and wellness, get the most exercise, stay the most informed, and are generally the most proactive. At the other end of the spectrum is Minneapolis:

Miami

Minneapolis

Health and well-being are a top priority

93%

75%

I am very well-informed about my health

90%

81%

I’m proactive about my health

90%

71%

Wellness is a way of life

86%

61%

I exercise moderately more than 5 times each week

52%

29%

I exercise vigorously more than 5 times each week

36%

10%

I rarely or never exercise vigorously

17%

40%

I believe it’s important to research health concerns

63%

42%

Health Concerns Vary Regionally

While the same five health concerns topped the list in most cities (as above), the data also offered a more nuanced perspective of how health concerns vary from city to city. For example, compared to the average across the cities surveyed:

  • People in Dallas are 60% more concerned about being able to find birth control and reproductive services.

  • People are 50% more concerned about drug addiction in Denver.

  • Residents of New York are 32% less worried about lack of sleep.

  • In Philadelphia, people are 35% more concerned about work stress, 31% more concerned about getting cancer, and 36% more concerned with inheriting a disease.

  • People in Portland are 54% more concerned about managing both chronic pain and chronic conditions and are 52% more concerned about pain management.

  • In Minneapolis, people are 26% more concerned about their weight.

By health category:

  • People in Houston are most concerned about poor diet (33%), while people in Miami are least concerned (10%).

  • People in New York (16%) and Los Angeles (19%) are least concerned about aging, while people in Phoenix (42%) and Denver (38%) are most concerned.

  • Residents of Atlanta are most concerned with the cost of healthcare (35%) and medication (25%), while people in San Francisco are least concerned with the cost of healthcare (15%) and medication (14%).

“It’s a new year, and Americans across the country will be undertaking resolutions to improve their health and wellness,” said Healthline Media President and CEO David Kopp. “Our resolution is to continue supporting Americans from coast to coast with online health information that is vetted, trusted and consumer-friendly so that they can access what they need, when they need it, to make more informed health decisions.”

About Healthline Media

San Francisco-based Healthline Media’s mission is to empower people to be their strongest and healthiest selves by being a trusted ally in their pursuit of health and well-being. The company is one of the world’s fastest growing health information brands with online properties Healthline.com, MedicalNewsToday.com and Greatist.com. Healthline Media’s sites provide evidence-based and data-driven articles with the highest standards of medical integrity that support the modern health consumer with a whole-person approach to health and wellness. Healthline Media is the top ranked health publisher and number 36 on Comscore’s Top 100 Property rankings. Across all of its properties, Healthline Media publishes each month up to 1,000 scientifically accurate yet reader-friendly articles authored by more than 120 writers and reviewed by more than 100 doctors, clinicians, nutritionists, and other experts. The company’s repository contains more than 70,000 articles, each updated with current protocol. More than 200 million people worldwide and 86 million people in the U.S. visit Healthline’s sites each month, according to Google Analytics and Comscore, respectively.

Media Contact

Stacey Grimsrud

Bospar for Healthline, Stacey@Bospar.com

About Healthline Media

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