Fitbit’s Healthiest Cities, Countries, and Days for 2017

Fitbit Year in Review

SMART goals build incrementally on recent wins (or failures). So to set New Year’s resolutions that set you up for success, you have to know what you did and didn’t accomplish last year. And that’s true not just for individuals but larger communities as well.

So in the spirit of self, local, and global improvement, Fitbit researchers analyzed a year’s worth of aggregated and anonymous data from millions of Fitbit users worldwide.* Below, the cities, countries, and stats that stood out.

Move More, Sleep More

Fitbit Year in Review

The Fitbit family took over 45 trillion steps last year. That’s enough to walk to Pluto and back almost 2.5 times! (Yes, anti-gravity steps totally count toward a global step goal. No, you won’t be awarded an intergalactic achievement badge.)

You were also insanely active—generating over 160 billion total active minutes, the equivalent of living over 4,000 lifetimes—and well rested, sleeping 41 billion hours.

2017’s Healthiest Days

Fitbit Year in Review: Healthiest Days

It looks like Fitbit users stayed up late to the usher in the new year and then slept in to recover from the extra activity: New Year’s Eve 2016 was your most active day (based on steps and active minutes) while January 1, 2017 tallied the most hours slept among people in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

In the U.S., more people ran on Tuesday, May 16 than any other day. But it was the United States Independence day (Tuesday, July 4) that took top honors for cycling.

Americans on the Move

Fitbit Year in Review: Most Active US Cities

America’s most active cities went above and beyond when it came to average step count, active minutes, lowest resting heart rate, and longest sleep duration. High-five to the Boston, Massachusetts/Manchester, New Hampshire area for coming in at number one. Wicked awesome!

The Healthiest Hearts

Fitbit Year in Review: Lowest Resting Heart Rate

Resting heart rate Is a really simple metric that can reveal a lot about your health, so Fitbit researchers singled it out for a closer look.

It could be that the sun, sand, and laid back vibes of San Diego, California help its residents stay chill and healthy. This west coast locale showed real heart by beating the super active Boston-Manchester area.

Steps in the Right Direction

Fitbit Year in Review: Countries With the Most Steps

As mentioned, Fitbit users around the world took over 45 trillion steps in 2017. Hong Kong led the way with its Fitbit-using residents taking an average of 9,600 steps per day, just edging out Spain whose 9,500 average steps per day took the number two spot. Despite being named 2017’s Fittest Country, Ireland wasn’t a shoe-in, but residents there still took enough steps to round out the top five.

World’s Best Snoozers

Fitbit Year in Review: Countries That Get The Most Sleep

New Zealand may be averaging the most sleep per night but the top five countries are all winners: Each country gets more sleep than the average Fitbit user and nearly all of them hit the CDC’s recommendation of 7 or more hours a night for adults.

*This research is based on a representative sampling of aggregated and anonymous data of over 3.5 million Fitbit users from November 1, 2016 to October 31, 2017.

19 Comments   Join the Conversation

19 CommentsLeave a comment

  • Hi
    This article would be so much more interesting if there were some more numbers. How about the global resting heart rate? The 5th and 95th percentile, the mean and median of the number of hours slept. How active is Boston?

  • It is interesting that you singled out the states with the lowest resting heart rate but never revealed what that number was. I really don’t care which states had the lowest heart rate but I am interested in average heart rates for each state. Why put a meaningless tidbit like that out there?

  • I use my Fitbit daily. I no longer receive a weekly update. I am 84 years old and depend on the updates for motivation. It really helps me to get out and get going. Rosemarie Manganaro

  • I use my Fitbit daily. I no longer receive a weekly update. I am 84 years old and depend on the updates for motivation. It really helps me to get out and get going. Rosemarie Manganaro

  • I love my fit bit I don’t always do the walking and exercise like I should, but I like the time and heart beat.

  • My wife and I had Fitbit HR’s and our children gave us Charge 2’s for Christmas. We loved them… until my wife’s unit stopped synchronizing after 5 days. Fitbit says our Motorola Force Z droid cellphones are not compatible with Charge 2; but mine still works and hers worked for 5 days. Fitbit won’t provide a replacement. Wife VERY disappointed….and she has been a big supporter of Fitbit…but not so much now.

    • Did you get the warranty? My son bought me a fitbit in 2017. I’ve had 4 new fitbit, no charge, that’s what the warranty is for. BTW: even if you don’t have any problems with your fitbit, take it back before your warranty expires and get a new fitbit, no charge. I was told this by the customer service clerk at Best Buy.

  • It would be interesting to find where my step count falls within the group of all fitbit users (e.g., 50th, 60th, . . . 90th, 91st, . . . 99th percentile step counts).

  • I don’t know how to keep up with my personal steps every day. Is there somewhere I can find them. I need the motivation to see how many I’ve done each week, so I can keep trying to improve that number! Thank you!

  • I am a 98 year old lady whose had her Fitbit for two years. I am proud to say even though I have diminished eyesight, a hearing problem, oxygen user, I love to walk and try to stay ‘with it: by walking daily. women rule!

  • About three years ago, my daughter sent me a fit bit from Calgary and told me that I needed to get out of the house. I was 79 and live in Toronto. At first, the item meant nothing to me. Gradually, I began to focus on seeing what I could accomplish. Over time I became competitive against myself and tried to improve each month. It didn’t always work out. Aging can be a deterrent.weather can be a deterrent. But the fit bit kept challenging me. I made myself a goal. To try for 10,000 steps one day a week. Too often it was not possible. I set another goal of 50,000 steps a week. I found that easier to accomplish. Success is based on accomplishments. I try not to set a goal that is impossible to reach. I’m 82 and my doctor marvels at how much my health has improved. The fit bit has been one of the reasons.

  • Wow China with the most steps. Don’t you have the USA as the most tracker sales units and China. Really ? Hard to imagine the data is correct that China would have more steps than the USA . What are the number of trackers sold in USA compared to China? I would think the number ear would be like at least 5 to 1 then if China ave steps are 9k then USA must be like under 2k average per day per person. What a bunch of slackers in the USA ,… No offense USA citizens.

  • I received a new fit bit in aug 2017 to replave my old one that would not charge anymore and now this one does the same thing!! so I have not used it in awhile can I get another one I think the warranty is not longer on the replacement one!!

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