Healthiest Cities In America; See How Florida Cities Rank

MIAMI, FL — Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale aren't among the most healthy cities in America but they rank much higher than the least healthy cities, according to a new study by personal finance website Patch.com.

"To identify the places where health is a priority, WalletHub compared more than 170 of the largest U.S. cities across 43 key metrics," the website said in releasing its findings Monday. "The data set ranges from cost of medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption to fitness clubs per capita."

Tampa and Miami ranked 33rd and 34th respectively out of 174 cities included in the study. Fort Lauderdale ranked 46th.

WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez told Patch that Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale got high scores in terms of healthy food accessibility and consumption.

"We analyzed 11 Florida cities, six of which ranked in the top half," she said. "The best ranked were Orlando at 29, and Tampa and Miami at 33 and 34 respectively. The lowest ranked were Port St. Lucie (133), Cape Coral (144) and Hialeah (146)."

She said Tallahassee (75) benefits from access to green space, but lacks in the food and fitness categories. Pembroke Pines (84) residents have access to quality healthcare, but lack in green space, while Jacksonville (89) faces the opposite situation, she said. St. Petersburg (91) got its best marks for green space.

"When looking at the bottom half, we find Port St. Lucie, Cape Coral and Hialeah lacking in most categories, with an emphasis on healthcare and green space," Gonzalez said.

WalletHub noted that healthcare costs have risen while U.S. life expectancy has declined for three consecutive years.

San Francisco, Seattle and San Diego, Portland and Washington, D.C. topped the list of the healthiest cities in America.

Two Texas cities, Brownsville and Laredo, were the least healthy U.S. cities, according to the study followed by Gulfport, Mississippi and Shreveport Louisiana. Memphis was the fifth most unhealthy city.

Click here to read the full report and see where your city ranks.