What the data shows
Using the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Age-Adjusted Prevalence dataset for the 2024 survey year — the most recent available — adult leisure-time physical inactivity varies more than two-fold across the country. The measure is the share of adults 18+ who answered "No" when asked whether they did any physical activity outside of their regular job in the past month, age-adjusted so states can be compared fairly.
Across the 49 reporting states plus the District of Columbia, values run from 14.4% in Washington, D.C. and 14.8% in Vermont at the low end to 29.8% in Mississippi at the high end. The median state sits near 20.8%, consistent with the long-standing finding that roughly one in five U.S. adults gets no leisure-time exercise.
Regional patterns
The geography is striking and stable. The most inactive states form a contiguous Southern and Appalachian band: Mississippi (29.8%), Arkansas (27.3%), Oklahoma (26.9%), Louisiana (26.8%), Alabama (26.6%), and Kentucky and West Virginia (both 26.4%). Eight of the ten highest-ranked states are in the South.
At the opposite extreme are Mountain West, Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest and Northern New England states — Colorado (15.3%), Utah (16.8%), Minnesota (16.9%), Washington (17.1%), New Hampshire (17.4%), Alaska (17.8%) and Montana (17.9%) — alongside D.C. and Vermont. These align with patterns CDC has reported for years, where Colorado and Vermont consistently rank among the most active.
Among U.S. territories (shown for context, not ranked with states), Puerto Rico reports 41.6% — far above any state — and Guam 30.2%, while the U.S. Virgin Islands (20.8%) sits in the state midrange.
Caveats
Several limitations matter for a fair reading. BRFSS is a self-reported telephone survey, so figures reflect what respondents say rather than measured activity, and they capture only *leisure-time* activity — someone with a physically demanding job who doesn't exercise off the clock counts as "inactive." Smaller jurisdictions (e.g., Guam, the Virgin Islands) have wide confidence intervals because of small samples. Tennessee did not report this measure in 2024 and is excluded. Single-year estimates also fluctuate more than the multi-year combined figures CDC uses for its published inactivity maps, so small year-to-year shifts and narrow gaps between adjacent states should be read cautiously. This page reports population statistics only and is not medical advice.