The Wellness USA survey, released by Healthline.com, looked at 18 major cities across the United States—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.

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:

  1. Weight — 41%
  2. Anxiety — 38%
  3. Lack of sleep — 35%
  4. Lack of exercise — 33%
  5. Depression — 32%

While the same five health concerns topped the list in most cities, 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.

“It’s a new year, and Americans across the country will be undertaking resolutions to improve their health and wellness,” says Healthline Media president and CEO David Kopp, in a relase. “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.”