Chicago Illinois Was Ranked A Top 10 Healthy City In America

Believe it or not, there’s a healthy city in Illinois, and it’s Chicago. The Windy City is known for much, but being healthy isn’t typically one of them. Scroll on to find out how it got ranked so high.

When it comes to Chicago’s overall ranking, the city is 10 out of 170 cities that were contrasted and compared based on elements like healthcare costs, access to healthy food, and fitness availability.

flickr/Ken Lund

Chicago’s best feature is certainly its green space, which is why it ranks number 11 overall out of the more than 170 cities. The Windy City’s motto is even “city in a garden.”

flickr/Marco Verch

This healthy city also ranks high when it comes to food. Chicago is 11th when it comes to cities that offer ever-expanding access to nutritional food and meals.

Facebook/The Chicago Diner

From Chicago Diner to True Food Kitchen, the city has opened new health restaurants while keeping its tried and true ones, and you can find them in the city and suburbs.

Flickr/Marco Verch

The city is also known for its various places to get active and fit. Though it ranks 20 overall out of all the cities that were ranked, it is number four in running trails per capita.

flickr/Marlin Keesler

From the lakeshore to nature preserves, there are all sorts of outdoor spaces to stay active. The city is also home to a plethora of gyms as well.

Wikimedia Commons/Kyle Cassidy

The final metric was healthcare costs for which Chicago ranks number 66. This means it’s certainly not the cheapest place to receive care, but it is also not as expensive as cities like New York and Los Angeles.

Wikimedia Commons/Zol87

For more like this, check out the 10 counties in Illinois that have the healthiest cities.