Moving To A Walkable City Can Add 1,100 Steps To Your Day

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February 17, 2026

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Your regular steps whitethorn dangle connected your zip codification much than your willpower

Researchers recovered that walkable metropolis design—not individual motivation—was nan cardinal facet down group taking 1,100 much steps per day

By Eve Lu edited by Jen Christiansen & Clara Moskowitz

Map of nan contiguous U.S. pinch dots successful from magenta to green.

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Neighborhood walkability is simply a spot of a chicken-and-egg problem: Does surviving successful a walkable metropolis make you locomotion more, aliases do progressive group take to unrecorded wherever it’s easier to walk? To investigate, researchers analyzed smartphone information from betwixt 2013 and 2016 for 2 cardinal people, including much than 5,000 group who moved among much than 1,600 U.S. cities. Tim Althoff, a machine intelligence astatine nan University of Washington, and his colleagues recovered that aft relocating to much walkable cities, group took astir 1,100 much steps a day, balanced to 11 minutes of other regular walking. What’s much intriguing is that these further steps were portion of brisk walks—physical activity that improves wellness and could lend to a little consequence of decease each around. Meanwhile, nan information showed, group who moved betwixt likewise walkable cities didn’t alteration their activity level. The findings propose built environments, alternatively than individual prime alone, mightiness impact not conscionable nan magnitude but nan strength of nan workout their inhabitants get.

Map key. Each circle represents 1 of 1,609 root and/or destination cities included successful nan study. Circles are sized according to nan number of group that entered aliases exited nan metropolis during nan three-year study play and are colored to correspond nan city’s walkability score. Arrows betwixt selected cities show what happened erstwhile group moved from 1 to nan other, providing discourse for nan floor plan that follows.

Map of nan U.S. pinch 1,609 root and/or destination cities marked pinch circles. Five pairs of cities are highlighted, pinch walkability scores indicated.

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Table lists 5 astir walkable cities (Hoboken, NJ; Union City, NJ; West New York, NJ; West Hollywood, CA and New York, NY) and nan 5 slightest walkable cities (Brentwood, TN; The Acreage, FL; Poinciana, FL; Bella Vista, AR and Badger, AK). Walkability scores passim were collected from www.walkscore.com successful 2016 by Tim Althoff et al. Not each nan superlatives shown successful nan array were for root aliases destination cities successful nan study discussed here.

MORE WALKABLE, MORE STEPS

Each quadrate represents a relocation brace of cities. One axis shows nan alteration successful metropolis walkability, and nan different axis shows nan alteration successful regular steps. Those who moved to much walkable cities added astir 1,100 steps a day, and relocating to little walkable places trim activity by a akin amount.

Scatter crippled shows changes successful metropolis walkability people (new location subtracted from aged location) versus alteration successful mean regular steps aft nan move. People who moved from Ellicott City (walkability people 21) to New York (walkability people 89) accrued their mean regular measurement count by astir 1,250 steps. On average, group who moved from San Francisco (86) to El Dorado Hills (12) decreased their mean regular measurement count by much than 1,000 steps.

WHAT IF EVERY U.S. CITY WALKED LIKE NEW YORK CITY AND CHICAGO?

If each U.S. cities had Chicago’s walkability people of 78, nan mean personification would locomotion 443 much steps a time and summation an other 24 minutes of play mean to vigorous beingness activity: capable for 11.2 percent of people, aliases 36 cardinal much Americans, to meet targets successful aerobic-activity guidelines. And if everyone walked for illustration New Yorkers, an moreover larger share—14.5 percent, aliases astir 47 cardinal people—would meet those targets.

Chart shows mean activity level associated pinch metropolis walkability people plotted against nan estimated Percent of nan organization that achieves astatine slightest 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous beingness activity per week.

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