Beltway Sweat Kings: Arlington Repeats as America’s Fittest
This year’s national check-up isn’t being performed in a clinic—it’s arriving in the form of bright yellow data tables spread across desks from city council chambers to neighborhood coffee shops. Arlington, Virginia just etched its name at the top of the charts for the sixth straight time, according to the freshly released 2024 Fitness Index from the American College of Sports Medicine and the Elevance Health Foundation.
How the Rankings Work
- Scope: Each of the 100 largest U.S. cities is scored across four buckets.
- Personal Health Behaviors – exercise rates, sleep habits, fruit-and-veg intake.
- Health Outcomes – obesity, diabetes, hypertension and other chronic markers.
- Community Infrastructure – trail miles, parkland share, bicycle networks.
- Policy Environment – smoke-free laws, school wellness standards, public-fitness funding.
The Metro That Refuses to Slow Down
Arlington racked up its win thanks to standout scores on both people-level and place-level measures. Local survey data show:
- Highest percentage of any large city whose residents logged some form of exercise in the past month.
- Lowest prevalence of diabetes nationwide.
- A remarkable zero pedestrian deaths, a figure that aligns with investments in traffic-calmed streets and protected crossings.
- Near-universal park access—tied for top marks in the “10-minute walk to a park” indicator with a handful of West-Coast peers.
Top 10 Fittest Cities, 2024 Edition
- Arlington, Virginia
- Washington, District of Columbia
- Seattle, Washington
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Irvine, California
- Madison, Wisconsin
- San Francisco, California
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- Denver, Colorado
- Oakland, California
The Real ROI of a Walkable Zip Code
Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, chief health officer at Elevance Health, notes that while every community faces chronic disease, the right mix of exercise and nutrition can reverse the odds:
“If everyone hit the recommended physical-activity levels tomorrow, we could prevent one in twelve diabetes cases, one in fifteen heart-disease cases, and one in ten early deaths. Pair movement with consistent access to nutritious food, and we’re prescribing powerful medicine most health insurers can’t bottle.”
City Hall Takeaways
The report is designed as more than a parade of placards. For mayors and councils, it’s a quarterly-meeting cheat sheet for:
- Prioritizing funding for bike lanes, greenways and trail gaps.
- Strengthening policies that keep corner stores stocked with affordable produce.
- Creating joint-use pacts so school gymnasiums open after the last bell rings.
Your Move
Whether you clock neighborhood 5Ks on the Mount Vernon Trail or simply stroll ten minutes at lunch, every step counts toward a city’s ranking—and, ultimately, toward keeping your zip code from sliding off next year’s list.
