San Antonio ranks among nation’s 10 most obese metros

No one tell Charles Barkley, but yet another study is calling San Antonio fat.

A new WalletHub report ranked the San Antonio-New Braunfels area as the sixth-most obese U.S. metro.

About a third of all Alamo City-area residents fall into that category, according to the study. What’s more, SA ranked as the metro with the third-highest percentage of diabetic adults.

Researchers ranked the nation’s 100 largest metros by analyzing seven metrics, including the share of obese children, the share of obese teenagers and the share of obese adults.

Poverty and obesity went hand in hand in WalletHub’s study, and San Antonio consistently ranks among the poorest large U.S. cities.

“In the most overweight and obese cities, residents often lack easy access to healthy food and recreation opportunities, so investing in those areas should help improve people’s diets and exercise regimens, and reduce the financial burden overall,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said in a statement.

According to WalletHub, the 10 most obese obese metros in the nation are:

1. Jackson, MS
2. El Paso, TX
3. McAllen, TX
4. Fayetteville, AR
5. Little Rock, AR
6. San Antonio, TX
7. New Orleans, LA
8. Mobile, AL
9. Lafayette, LA
10. Oklahoma City, OK

San Antonio wasn’t the only Texas city to make the top 10. El Paso and McAllen took home the title as the No. 2 and No. 3 cities, respectively. All of the 10 most-obese metros are located in the South.

On the other end of the spectrum, Denver, Colorado; Provo, Utah; and Colorado Springs, Colorado, ranked among the country’s leanest metros, in respective order.

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This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.