15 Cities With the Most Workers Who Sit Versus Stand

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Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on HireAHelper.

In recent years, public health officials have been trying to raise awareness of the negative effects of a common daily activity: sitting.

While sitting can be helpful for resting and maintaining the body, sitting for prolonged periods with limited physical activity reduces energy expenditure and cardiovascular fitness, which contributes to a number of adverse health conditions. Sitting can increase the likelihood of obesity, blood clots, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol.

It may also increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer. It affects posture, stiffens joints, and contributes to tightness and strain in the back, hamstrings, and hips. With this long list of potential health consequences, some health professionals argue that “sitting is the new smoking.”

To determine the locations with the highest concentration of workers who sit, researchers at HireAHelper used data from O*NET’s Occupation-Level Sitting Score and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.

Here are the cities with the highest concentration of workers who sit.

15. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA

Bridge in Sacramento, California
Adonis Villanueva / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 49.62
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 5.2%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 12.5%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 51,220
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 122,450

14. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

Downtown Phoenix Arizona
John Wollwerth / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 49.62
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.8%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 12.1%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 143,740
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 255,610

13. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

The streets of Los Angeles, where median rent is relatively low
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 49.77
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 5.9%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 11.4%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 337,840
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 651,310

12. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

Townson Maryland
Jon Bilous / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 49.81
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 5.9%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 11.7%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 73,510
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 146,520

11. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis
Roger Siljander / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 50.23
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.1%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 11.5%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 111,310
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 209,130

10. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

Denver Colorado
Kevin Ruck / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 50.32
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.5%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 12.1%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 95,220
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 177,500

9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Downtown Seattle
Mark Payne / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 50.64
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.3%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 12.1%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 120,020
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 232,540

8. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT

Hartford, Connecticut
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 51.03
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.5%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 10.0%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 35,130
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 54,370

7. Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake City, Utah
f11photo / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 51.34
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.6%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 11.7%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 49,410
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 86,700

6. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX

Traffic in Austin, Texas
Philip Lange / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 51.52
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.7%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 12.4%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 71,840
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 132,560

5. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

Newark, New Jersey
EQRoy / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 51.67
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.6%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 10.5%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 569,830
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 915,440

4. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

Boston
mandritoiu / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 51.93
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.1%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 10.8%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 156,970
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 278,950

3. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA

San Francisco
Pius Lee / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 52.28
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 7.2%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 10.6%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 160,430
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 236,880

2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Arlington, Virginia
Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 53.80
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 6.4%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 11.0%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 186,320
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 321,290

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

The skyline of San Jose, which has a lower median rent than median mortgage payment
stellamc / Shutterstock.com
  • Composite index: 54.02
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 7.5%
  • Share of workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 9.2%
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting: 79,810
  • Total workers in jobs requiring continuous standing: 98,760

Methodology

A young woman studies a laptop computer screen and holds a pen in an office
Viktoriia Hnatiuk / Shutterstock.com

The data used in this analysis is from O*NET’s Occupation-Level Sitting Score and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. To determine the locations with the highest concentration of workers who sit, researchers calculated a composite index, which is an employment-weighted average of each occupation’s O*NET sitting score for each location. In the event of a tie, the location with the greater share of workers in jobs requiring continuous sitting — those with an O*NET score of 90 or above — was ranked higher. To improve relevance, only metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 residents were included.

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