US News & World Report ranks best, worst cities for sleep

A recent study by U.S. News & World Report’s 360 Reviews has named Austin, Texas, the best city in the United States for sleep, while Philadelphia was ranked the worst.

To identify the best and worst cities for sleep health, the 360 Reviews team analyzed publicly available data from the top 50 cities in the U.S. Honolulu and Nashville, Tennessee, were excluded due to missing data. Additionally, New York City’s five counties were combined to create one mean score for the city.

For each city, researchers analyzed air pollution by the amount of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in the air during a 24-hour period in 2021, as well as light pollution via spectral radiance and noise pollution in adjusted decibels. They also used CDC data on overall prevalence of physical activity and short sleep duration by state.

Noise pollution accounted for 20% of the overall score, followed by light pollution (15%), air pollution (5%), physical activity (15%) and prevalence of short sleep duration (45%).

“While all factors in our sleep health study are important, short sleep duration was the most telling, and also reflects the consequences of other study factors such as road noise, air quality and prevalence of physical activity,” Haniya Rae, sleep feature editor for 360 Reviews, said in a related press release.

According to analysis, the top 10 cities for sleep — apart from Raleigh, North Carolina — are west of the Mississippi River, and the 10 worst cities are in the eastern part of the country. The lowest ranking cities are also older and more interconnected and had worse pollution.

The leading city for sleep, Austin, Texas, was in the top 10 for all factors except air quality, for which it ranked 11. The remaining top 10 cities for sleep are:

• Raleigh, North Carolina
• Fort Worth, Texas
• San Diego
• Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Omaha, Nebraska
• San Jose, California
• Tucson, Arizona

After Philadelphia, the worst cities for sleep are:

• Miami
• Detroit
• New York
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Chicago
• Washington
• Boston
• Long Beach, California
• Fresno, California

To improve sleep quality on an individual level, the Reviews 360 team suggested installing blackout curtains, using an air purifier and a sound machine, and investing in a new mattress or pillow.

Reference:

• U.S. News 360 Reviews study reveals the top U.S. cities for sleep health. https://www.usnews.com/press-room/consumer-insights-studies/2023-02-27/u-s-news-360-reviews-study-reveals-the-top-u-s-cities-for-sleep-health. Published Feb. 27, 2023. Accessed March 9, 2023.