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Cold weather doesn't force everyone into hibernation and exercise avoidance, new data from fitness tracker manufacturer Fitbit shows. They pulled information from their users that shows physical activity levels in some states withstand winter storms and summer heat.
The company looked at how many steps its users walk in each state. They aggregated the steps taken on average each day between January and March and also between July and September.
Then, they looked at places where walkers weathered the cold — and those where they hid indoors. New York, coming out as the most weatherproof state in terms of walking, took an average of 7,734 steps per day in peak winter months and 8,807 steps per day in peak summer months.
New York in particular is resilient, the researchers said, because of the New York City residents who walk to work. On average, about 3 percent of people walk to work in the US, according to the Census Bureau. But in New York City, more than 10 percent of people commute on foot.
The top five states walking from January to March were New York, California, Hawaii, DC, and Minnesota.
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(Fitbit)
The most steps from July to September were taken in New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and DC.
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(Fitbit)
People in the south fell behind in both seasons, while people in snow-laden states Wisconsin and Minnesota somehow are still trekking a high amount in the winter. This data is looking just at Fitbit users, who could be bigger walkers than the general population (since they've invested in the technology to track their activity).
