How active are American adults, state by state?
The federal *Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans* recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or an equivalent mix. The CDC tracks how many adults actually hit that mark through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a large state-based telephone survey. In the most recent year available, 2023, 59.9% of U.S. adults met the aerobic guideline.
A persistent geographic divide
State rates ranged from 51.1% in Oklahoma to 67.8% in the District of Columbia — a gap of nearly 17 percentage points. The pattern is regional, not random.
The most active populations cluster in the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest: Colorado and Oregon tied at 67.0%, followed by Washington and Vermont (66.5%), Montana (66.3%), Maine (66.1%), Utah (65.1%), Alaska (65.0%), and Idaho (64.7%). Recreation-oriented cultures, outdoor access, and younger or higher-income demographics all correlate with these higher rates.
At the other end sits a tight Deep South and south-central cluster. Oklahoma (51.1%), Mississippi (51.2%), Arkansas (52.8%), West Virginia (53.1%), Missouri (53.9%), Louisiana (54.5%), and Alabama (56.3%) all trailed the nation. These same states tend to rank poorly on related measures such as obesity and chronic disease, reflecting overlapping factors like income, rurality, built environment, and climate.
Large, diverse states landed mid-pack: California 62.2%, Florida 60.0%, New York 58.4%, and Texas 56.5%.
Important caveats
These figures come with real limitations and should be read as estimates, not precise counts:
- Self-reported. BRFSS relies on respondents recalling and describing their own activity, which can inflate results relative to device-measured studies. National surveys using accelerometers or the National Health Interview Survey (which reported about 46.9% for 2020) produce notably lower figures because the methodologies differ.
- Confidence intervals matter. Many states sit within a few points of one another and their margins of error overlap, so small rank differences (e.g., the cluster around 58–60%) are not statistically meaningful.
- Telephone survey bias. Coverage, response rates, and weighting affect comparability across states.
- Two states missing. Kentucky and Pennsylvania did not report a usable 2023 estimate, so they are excluded rather than guessed.
- Odd-year cadence. BRFSS fields its physical-activity module in odd years, so 2023 is the latest available; a 2025 update is expected to follow.
This study reports population statistics only and is not medical advice. Individuals with health concerns should consult a qualified clinician before changing their activity level.