Criteria include: body-mass index, air and water quality, smoking rates, exercise frequency, access to doctors and hospitals, sexually transmitted disease, rates of violent crime, and even unemployment, which can be an indicator of insurance and health care coverage. Then our demographics expert tracked the data.

See for yourself which cities came out on top. (And find more details in the October 2002 issue of SELF.) Metropolitan areas are listed in order of rank, from best to worst.

Data sources are at the bottom of the list.

Rank    Metropolitan area
    1      Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut
    2      Provo-Orem, Utah
    3      Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon counties, New Jersey
    4      Burlington, Vermont
    5      Nassau-Suffolk counties, New York
    6      San Francisco
    7      Ventura, California
    8      Bergen-Passaic counties, New Jersey
    9      Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, California
  10      Honolulu
  11      Portland, Maine
  12      San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, California
  13      Monmouth-Ocean counties, New Jersey
  14      Orange County, California
  15      Portsmouth-Rochester, New Hampshire
  16      Boulder-Longmont, Colorado
  17      New London-Norwich, Connecticut
  18      Hartford, Connecticut
  19      Boston
  20      San Jose, California
  21      Madison, Wisconsin
  22      Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota
  23      Lawrence, Massachusetts
  24      New Haven-Meriden, Connecticut
  25      Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin
  26      Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington
  27      San Diego
  28      Santa Rosa, California
  29      Bridgeport, Connecticut
  30      Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado
  31      Billings, Montana
  32      Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York
  33      Newburgh, New York
  34      Brockton, Massachusetts
  35      Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
  36      Ann Arbor, Michigan
  37      Springfield, Massachusetts
  38      Rochester, New York
  39      Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island/Fall River, Massachusetts
  40      Syracuse, New York
  41      Eugene-Springfield, Oregon
  42      Binghamton, New York
  43      Trenton, New Jersey
  44      York, Pennsylvania
  45      Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida
  46      Washington, D.C.
  47      New York City
  48      Lynchburg, Virginia
  49      West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Florida
  50      Worcester, Massachusetts
  51      Utica-Rome, New York
  52      Lancaster, Pennsylvania
  53      Sioux Falls, South Dakota
  54      Springfield, Illinois
  55      Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, Texas
  56      Roanoke, Virginia
  57      Boise, Idaho
  58      Baltimore
  59      Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pennsylvania
  60      Pittsburgh
  61      Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
  62      Sacramento, California
  63      Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Florida
  64      McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
  65      Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  66      Bremerton, Washington
  67      Newark, New Jersey
  68      Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Pennsylvania
  69      Salinas-Monterey, California
  70      Canton-Massillon, Ohio
  71      Duluth, Minnesota/Superior, Wisconsin
  72      Richmond-Petersburg, Virginia
  73      Lubbock, Texas
  74      Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Florida
  75      Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, Pennsylvania
  76      Fort Pierce-Port St. Lucie, Florida
  77      Asheville, North Carolina
  78      Brazoria County, Texas
  79      Green Bay, Wisconsin
  80      Oakland, California
  81      Austin-San Marcos, Texas
  82      Denver
  83      Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York
  84      Johnstown, Pennsylvania
  85      Tallahassee, Florida
  86      Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, California
  87      Spokane, Washington
  88      Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, Virginia
  89      Tacoma, Washington
  90      Tucson, Arizona
  91      Hickory-Morganton, North Carolina
  92      Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, California
  93      Colorado Springs, Colorado
  94      Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington
  95      Salem, Oregon
  96      Hamilton-Middletown, Ohio
  97      Reno, Nevada
  98      Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas
  99      Lincoln, Nebraska
100      Cheyenne, Wyoming
101      Fort Lauderdale, Florida
102      Akron, Ohio
103      Yakima, Washington
104      Orlando, Florida
105      Bristol-Johnson City-Kingsport, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia
106      Dayton-Springfield, Ohio
107      Des Moines, Iowa     
108      Columbia, South Carolina
109      Peoria-Pekin, Illinois
110      Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina
111      Los Angeles-Long Beach, California
112      Reading, Pennsylvania
113      Charleston, West Virginia
114      Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisconsin
115      Little Rock-North Little Rock, Arkansas
116      Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan
117      Lexington, Kentucky
118      Miami
119      Knoxville, Tennessee
120      Stockton-Lodi, California
121      Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, Michigan
122      Daytona Beach, Florida
123      Anchorage, Alaska
124      Davenport, Iowa/Moline-Rock Island, Illinois
125      Modesto, California
126      Erie, Pennsylvania
127      Wilmington, North Carolina
128      Huntsville, Alabama
129      Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona
130      Nashville
131      Riverside-San Bernardino, California
132      Atlanta
133      Macon, Georgia
134      Las Vegas
135      Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
136      Augusta, Georgia/Aiken, South Carolina
137      Omaha, Nebraska
138      Toledo, Ohio
139      Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan
140      Killeen-Temple, Texas
141      Youngstown-Warren, Ohio
142      Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida
143      Savannah, Georgia
144      Wilmington-Newark, Delaware
145      Fort Wayne, Indiana
146      Springfield, Missouri
147      Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Michigan
148      Albuquerque, New Mexico
149      Fayetteville, North Carolina
150      Pensacola, Florida
151      Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, North Carolina
152      Chattanooga, Tennessee
153      Atlantic City-Cape May, New Jersey
154      Chicago
155      Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas
156      Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio
157      Jacksonville, Florida
158      Philadelphia
159      Jersey City, New Jersey
160      Rockford, Illinois
161      Huntington, West Virginia/Ashland, Kentucky
162      Odessa-Midland, Texas
163      Evansville, Indiana/Henderson, Kentucky
164      New Orleans
165      Montgomery, Alabama
166      Cincinnati
167      Charlotte-Gastonia, North Carolina/Rock Hill, South Carolina
168      Dallas
169      Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
170      Oklahoma City
171      Detroit
172      Columbus, Ohio
173      El Paso, Texas
174      Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina
175      Columbus, Georgia
176      San Antonio
177      Mobile, Alabama
178      Houston
179      Corpus Christi, Texas
180      Amarillo, Texas
181      Baton Rouge, Louisiana
182      Fresno, California
183      Tulsa, Oklahoma
184      Wichita, Kansas
185      Louisville, Kentucky
186      Jackson, Mississippi
187      Birmingham, Alabama
188      Bakersfield, California
189      Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana
190      Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
191      Gary, Indiana
192      Galveston-Texas City, Texas
193      St. Louis
194      Ocala, Florida
195      South Bend, Indiana
196      Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, Mississippi
197      Flint, Michigan
198      Lafayette, Louisiana
199      Indianapolis
200      Memphis

Data sources: American Medical Association, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Claritas (marketing survey firm), Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (http://www.crlp.org/), Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, ESRI (map software producer), Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Cancer Institute, National Center for Health Statistics, National Oceanic and Atmospheric, Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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