Report: Brownsville Ranked As Least Healthiest City In America

Brownsville has earned the inglorious distinction of being ranked as the least healthiest city in the U.S. according to a new report from personal-finance website WalletHub. The Cameron County city, which is near the border of Mexico, was ranked 174 out of 174 cities in terms of health in 2019.

WalletHub compared more than 170 of the largest U.S. cities across 42 metrics, including the cost of medical visit, fruit and vegetable consumption, and fitness clubs per capita, the organization said in a news release. The healthiest city was San Francisco followed by Seattle. The highest ranked Texas city was Austin at 14 and Plano at 43.

Some other key stats Wallethub found around the U.S.:

• Overland Park, Kansas, has the lowest share of physically unhealthy adults, 7.10 percent, which is 2.7 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 19.10 percent.
• Laredo, Texas, has the lowest cost per doctor’s visit, $58.33, which is 3.3 times less expensive than in Boston, the city with the highest at $190.52.
• Portland, Maine, has the lowest share of adults eating fruit less than once daily, 28.20 percent, which is 1.8 times lower than in Gulfport, Mississippi, the city with the highest at 51.80 percent.
• Amarillo, Texas, has the lowest average monthly cost for a fitness-club membership, $13.67, which is 6.2 times less expensive than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at $84.36.

Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images for David Jones