US States With the Highest Obesity (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System)

49 US states ranked by obesity (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System), from highest to lowest. First are West Virginia (42.3), Mississippi (40.9) and Arkansas (40.7). The middle one of the 49 has 34.4.

What this measures

Adults with a body mass index (a measure of weight for height) of 30 or more, worked out from the height and weight they reported themselves. Source: CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

Every state

Rank	State	% of adults
1	West Virginia	42.3
2	Mississippi	40.9
3	Arkansas	40.7
4	Louisiana	40.2
5	Alabama	39.8
6	Oklahoma	39.5
7	Indiana	38.3
8	Iowa	38.2
9	Tennessee	38.1
10	New Mexico	37
11	Nebraska	37
12	Ohio	36.9
13	South Dakota	36.6
14	Kansas	36.6
15	North Dakota	36.4
16	South Carolina	36.2
17	Illinois	36
18	Delaware	35.9
19	Wisconsin	35.8
20	Michigan	35.7
21	Alaska	35.4
22	Missouri	35.4
23	Georgia	35.3
24	Texas	34.7
25	Virginia	34.4
26	Maryland	34
27	North Carolina	33.9
28	Wyoming	33.5
29	Oregon	33.5
30	New Hampshire	33.2
31	Maine	33.2
32	Minnesota	33.2
33	Rhode Island	32.6
34	Arizona	32.4
35	Idaho	31.1
36	Nevada	31
37	Utah	30.9
38	Washington	30.8
39	Montana	30.5
40	Florida	29.8
41	Vermont	29.6
42	Connecticut	29.4
43	New Jersey	28.7
44	New York	28.1
45	California	28
46	Massachusetts	27.3
47	Hawaii	27
48	Colorado	24.7
49	District of Columbia	24.2

More on obesity (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System)

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.