Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Bicycling

More Walking and Biking, Better Health: New Evidence From American Cities

States with higher rates of walking and biking to work tend to have lower rates of diabetes. Click to enlarge. All graphics: Alliance for Biking and Walking

New data from the Alliance for Biking and Walking's 2014 Benchmarking report bears out the notion that people tend to be healthier in cities where walking and biking are more prevalent.

The Alliance compiled active commuting rates in the 50 largest American cities as measured by the U.S. Census. Then it compared that data with health information from the CDC. On health outcomes like diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure, a pretty clear correlation emerges.

Not all of it can be explained by active commuting, of course. But notice how, in the top chart, as statewide active transportation rates increase, diabetes rates decline.

About 9 percent of Americans have diabetes, but the incidence varies greatly between different places. Diabetes tracks closely enough with walk and bike commute rates that the Alliance and other researchers have concluded there's a strong correlation.

Rates of elevated blood pressure display a similar pattern:

Click to enlarge

And the same holds for obesity:

Click to enlarge.

Clearly there are a lot of factors at work here, and there are limitations to the conclusions you can draw from these types of statistical correlations. But this geographical study from the Alliance helps confirm that across the U.S., active commuting is a good predictor of broad public health metrics.

"People are healthier in states where more people bike and walk," said Alliance spokesperson Mary Lauran Hall. "These states' governments are facing a great opportunity to encourage more folks to bike and walk in the interest of boosting public health."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Talking Headways Podcast: Getting California High Speed Rail Done

It took a while, but California is figuring out the best, most-cost-effective way to do fast trains.

October 30, 2025

Spooky Stuff: On Halloween, Some States Will Have Deadlier Roads Than Others

Find out how yours ranks — and what policymakers can do to make streets less scary.

October 30, 2025

Who Are Thursday’s Headlines For?

Non-drivers still perceive streets as being for cars even when they have bike lanes. And that's because, in many cases, they are.

October 30, 2025

An Olympian Task: Replicating Paris’s Bike Boom in Los Angeles

The Olympics can help transform the streets of Los Angeles  — if they look to the example of Paris.

October 29, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are a Clear and Present Danger

Rescinding the "endangerment finding" could not only exacerbate climate change, it could also throw entire industries into chaos.

October 29, 2025

What’s More Regressive: Modest Driving Surcharges to Help Fund Transit, or Forced Car Ownership?

Do Illinois state senators and reps really want to make the financial burden on their constituents less "regressive"? If so they can start by ensuring that as many people as possible can live their lives without spending $12,000 annually just to leave their homes.

October 28, 2025
See all posts