Chicago Tops List Of Most Active US Cities: Website

CHICAGO, IL — With temperatures at the start of 2018 hovering between the ice planet Hoth and Han Solo frozen in carbonite¹, getting to the gym or fitting in a daily run probably takes a back seat to simply keeping warm during these winter months in Chicago. Despite these brutally frigid weather conditions outside, Chicago ranked as the top U.S. city to maintain an active lifestyle in, according to a 2018 list generated by a personal finance website.

WalletHub compared the 100 most populated cities² in the country across two weighted categories — budget and participation (worth 30 points) and sports and outdoors (worth 70 points). The website then based its rankings by analyzing various, weighted metrics within those categories to calculate the city's score. Statistics and data to create the list were taken from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Yelp, Fitbit, and other government agencies and private businesses.

Along with capturing the overall top spot, Chicago also ranked high in individual categories measuring the number of facilities. The city was No. 1 for most tennis courts per capita and tied for first for most playgrounds, most basketball hoops and most swimming pools per capita.

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After Chicago, the list's top 5 active cities included Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; San Diego; and Seattle. The worst city in the country for staying active was Hialeah, Florida, followed by North Las Vegas, Nevada; Irving, Texas; Bakersfield, California; and Newark, New Jersey.

Chicago wasn't the only U.S. city with a cold weather reputation to earn a top spot on the list. Madison, Wisconsin, was ranked No. 6, Denver was No. 8, and Minneapolis was No. 10. The rankings of other Midwest cities included:

• Milwaukee at No. 26
• St. Louis at No. 34
• Cincinnati at No. 39
• Fort Wayne, Indiana, at No. 48
• Indianapolis at No. 54

Go to WalletHub's website for its complete list of active cities.

FOOTNOTES:

¹Sometimes temperatues get so cold that Celsius and Farenheit aren't sufficient measurements and you need to use the "Empire Strikes Back" scale.

²WalletHub only considered the city proper in gathering its data, excluding cities in the surrounding metro area.

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