Saratoga's biggest neighbor is one of the fittest big cities in America. San Jose ranked 15th among the nation's 100 largest cities in the 2026 ACSM American Fitness Index released this month, with San Francisco sixth and Oakland 13th rounding out a Bay Area sweep of the top 15.
The index does not score Saratoga, which falls well below the 100-largest-cities cutoff, but the South Bay's showing places the region among the strongest in the nation. California put six cities in the national top 25, more than any other state: San Francisco (No. 6), Irvine (No. 7), San Diego (No. 11), Oakland (No. 13), San Jose (No. 15) and Chula Vista (No. 21).
The index, published for the 19th year by the American College of Sports Medicine with the Elevance Health Foundation, scores the 100 largest U.S. cities on personal health measures, such as physical activity, chronic disease and health outcomes, and on community and environment measures like parks, walkability and air quality.
High-ranking California cities earned strong marks for parks, walkability and year-round outdoor activity. The pattern is not statewide, however; Los Angeles ranked 55th, and several Central Valley cities landed in the bottom quarter of the list.
Across the 100 cities, the 2026 report found air quality improved in many places while food insecurity worsened for a second straight year, rising from an average of 12.9 percent to 14.4 percent, with 99 of the 100 cities reporting higher rates than the year before. Arlington, Virginia was named the nation's fittest city again, followed by Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Seattle and Denver.