Austin loves its labels. “Live Music Capital.” “Weird.” “Keep It Weird.” And my personal least favorite: “Fittest City in America.” The American Fitness Index, published by the American College of Sports Medicine, has ranked Austin in the top 10 every year since 2020. In 2024, we were #6. In 2025, we slipped to #8 but still made the list. That sounds great until you pull up the ZIP code-level data from the CDC’s PLACES dataset. Then it looks like a completely different city — one divided by I-35 in ways that make you uncomfortable if you live east of it (I do).
I spent a rainy Saturday afternoon with the CDC PLACES 2023 release (adult obesity prevalence, estimated from modeling of BRFSS data) and the Texas Department of State Health Services obesity prevalence maps from their 2025 report. I also cross-referenced with the USDA Food Access Research Atlas to get grocery store density. Then I mapped it against Austin’s actual geography — not the tourist version on South Congress, but the lived version in East Cesar Chavez and Riverside.
Here’s what I found, broken down by ZIP code. These are age-adjusted adult obesity rates (BMI ≥30).
| ZIP Code | Area | Obesity % | Uninsured Rate | Grocery access (stores per 10k) | Park acres per 1000 residents |
|-||--|-|-||
| 78701 | Downtown (west of 35) | 12.4% | 8% | 4.2 | 3.8 |
| 78704 | South Congress / Zilker | 14.1% | 11% | 3.9 | 4.1 |
| 78703 | Tarrytown / West Austin | 11.8% | 7% | 5.1 | 5.2 |
| 78702 | East Austin (east of 35) | 24.7% | 22% | 1.3 | 1.2 |
| 78721 | East Cesar Chavez | 29.3% | 28% | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| 78741 | Riverside / Pleasant Valley | 27.8% | 25% | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| 78758 | North Lamar / Brentwood | 26.9% | 24% | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| 78753 | North Austin (east of 35) | 28.2% | 26% | 1.0 | 0.9 |
That’s not a “fittest city.” That’s two cities. The folks jogging around Town Lake (sorry, Lady Bird Lake — I still call it Town Lake sometimes) and hiking the Barton Springs greenbelt are overwhelmingly from 78701, 78704, 78703, and the rest of west-of-MoPac Austin. Meanwhile, just a few miles east across the highway, obesity rates are double or triple — 29.3% in 78721 compared to 11.8% in 78703. That’s a 2.5x difference. For context, the difference between the healthiest and least healthy neighborhoods in Minneapolis (another “fittest city” contender) is about 1.6x. Austin’s disparity is among the worst in the country for a city of its size.
Waist-to-Height Ratio
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The gap isn’t about willpower. It’s about infrastructure. A 2022 study in *Health & Place* mapped Austin’s park distribution using GIS data from the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department. They found that 78% of park acreage is west of I-35. East Austin has roughly the same population density (actually slightly higher in some tracts) but 30% less park space per capita. The parks that do exist east of 35 — like Rosewood Park, Guerra Park — are smaller, have fewer amenities, and in some cases lack basic lighting or maintained trails.
And H-E-B locations? Let’s talk about food access. East of I-35, you’ve got one full-service H-E-B (on 7th Street at Pleasant Valley) serving about 80,000 people. There’s also a smaller H-E-B on East 41st, but it’s more of a convenience format with limited fresh produce. West of I-35, within the same 5-mile radius, you have the H-E-B on South Lamar, the one on West 38th, the Central Market on North Lamar, the H-E-B on Congress, and the new one on Lake Austin Boulevard. That’s six full-service stores with massive produce sections, butcher counters, and prepared foods. The USDA defines a “food desert” as a low-income tract where at least 500 people or 33% of the population live more than 1 mile from a supermarket. 78721 qualifies. 78703 does not.
I’m not saying this to be depressing. I’m saying it because the “fittest city” label is actively harmful when it hides these disparities. Local politicians and chamber of commerce types use the ranking to argue for cutting public health funding. “Why invest more in community programs? We’re already #6!” Meanwhile, the people in 78721 are seeing obesity rates climb every year, not fall.
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Here’s what the data would look like if we tracked the right metric. Instead of “citywide average obesity rate,” we should track the *ratio* between the highest and lowest ZIP codes’ obesity prevalence. In Austin, that ratio is 2.48x (29.3% / 11.8%). In Minneapolis, it’s 1.6x. In Seattle, it’s 1.7x. In Denver, 1.5x. Austin is an outlier — not because we’re less healthy overall, but because our health is dramatically unequally distributed. That’s a policy failure, not a genetic one.
What can you do with this information as an individual? If you live in 78702, 78721, 78741, or any other east-of-35 zip code, a standard BMI calculation alone doesn’t capture your reality. You need something that accounts for what you can actually control. The waist-to-height ratio is less sensitive to food environment because it tracks central adiposity — the kind that accumulates even when your only nearby food options are corner stores and fast food. I’ve seen people (I don’t have clients, but people email me through bmitool.org) in East Austin drop their waist-to-height ratio from 0.55 to 0.52 without changing BMI much, just by walking to the one park that exists (Givens Park, Guerra Park, or the Southern Walnut Creek Trail) and cutting out sugary drinks. That’s real, meaningful progress that BMI wouldn’t capture.
Also, if you have access to a car, drive to the H-E-B on 7th during off-peak hours. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than the corner store. And if you don’t have a car, the CapMetro bus routes that serve east Austin have improved — the 20, 300, and 350 lines all stop near full-service grocery options. It’s not convenient. But it’s something.
Austin is still my city. I live east of 35. I know the H-E-B parking lot situation (it’s a nightmare after 5 PM). I know what it’s like to walk down Chalmers and see no shade and no sidewalks. But let’s retire the “fittest city” label until it’s true for everyone — not just the people who can afford a Life Time membership on South Lamar or a personal trainer at Austin Simply Fit. Health equity is the real metric. And on that, Austin has failing grades.
— Jamie
