Dallas ranked 43rd among the nation's 100 largest cities in the 2026 ACSM American Fitness Index released this month, landing in the middle of the pack nationally and third among North Texas cities.
The city scored 35th on the index's personal health measures, which track physical activity, chronic disease and health outcomes, and 47th on community and environment measures such as parks, walkability, transit and air quality.
That balanced profile puts Dallas ahead of Houston (No. 44), Fort Worth (No. 69) and San Antonio (No. 80), while Plano, at No. 12, led both the region and the state, and Frisco followed at No. 32.
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.
Just above Dallas on the list sits Charlotte, North Carolina at No. 42, one of the year's fastest risers after climbing 19 places. Other North Texas cities in the top 100 were Garland at No. 72, Arlington at No. 78 and Irving at No. 86.
