Methodology

To determine the most obese metro area in every state, 24/7 Tempo reviewed county-level adult obesity rates from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program’s 2021 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps report. 

The adult obesity rate is defined as the share of adults 20 years and older who report a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher. We aggregated county-level statistics to metropolitan statistical areas. While the CHR report is from 2021, obesity rate figures published in the report are from 2017.

We used the 384 metropolitan statistical areas as delineated by the United States Office of Management and Budget and used by the Census Bureau as our definition of metros. 

Metros were ranked within their state based on the adult obesity rate. Since many metros cross state lines, the metro was assigned to the state of its first-listed principal city. Thus, the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area was excluded as it is principally in the District of Columbia.

Additional information on the share of adults who report no leisure-time physical activity, the share of adults diagnosed with diabetes, and the share of adults who report fair or poor health are also from the 2021 CHR.