Despite the constant stench of lingering garbage and city smog, New York City is surprisingly among the world’s healthiest cities. The research is backed by a study from Healthnews that analyzed 40 of world’s biggest cities.
Each city was then considered under 10 key metrics to create a cumulative score out of 100, including the following:
- Happiness index
- Average weekly physical activity
- Sunshine hours
- Air quality index
- Cost of a fitness club membership for one adult
- Average sleep duration
- Obesity rates
- Total number of hospitals
- Average workweek length
- Price of bottled water
Coming out on top is Amsterdam, boasting as the world’s healthiest city. With 1,662 annual hours of sunshine, 12.8 hours of physical activity per week and 30 workweek hours (shortest work hours of all analyzed cities), the Dutch capital knows what’s up. Not to mention, 63% of its residents ride their bike daily. Brussels and Boston follow Amsterdam in second and third place. Did you know Boston gets more sunshinethan Porto or Mexico City?
Though we’re not in the top 10, NYC took 16th place with a happiness score of 6.73. New Yorkers are exercising about 6.3 hours per week, sleeping 7.1 hours a night and receiving 2,536 hours of sunshine annually. The only other U.S. cities ahead of us in health besides Boston are Chicago, Miami and Houston. Take that Los Angeles!
You can explore the full ranking here. And did you know NYC is the smartest city in America?