The Brief
- Dallas ranked No. 18 nationally and was the only Texas metro area in the top 20 most challenging cities for people living with asthma.
- Texas cities performed poorly on key risk factors, with McAllen and Dallas ranking among the top three metros for uninsured residents.
- Nationwide, asthma drives nearly 1 million emergency department visits each year, highlighting a widespread need for better care access and improved air quality.
DALLAS – A new report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) has Dallas ranked No. 18 among the 100 most challenging metropolitan areas in the United States for people living with asthma.
Dallas was the only Texas metro area to rank in the top 20 nationally. The report evaluated metropolitan areas based on estimated asthma prevalence, asthma-related emergency department visits and asthma-related death rates.
Dallas ranks No. 18 on the national asthma list
Local perspective:
The AAFA report classified Dallas as worse than average for estimated asthma prevalence and asthma-related emergency department visits. Dallas’ Asthma-related death rate was considered average compared with the other metros that were analyzed.
How Texas metros compare across the state
The report analyzed the 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the contiguous United States. Overall, a total of six Texas metropolitan areas appeared in the report:
- Dallas: No. 18
- El Paso: No. 70
- San Antonio: No. 74
- Austin: No. 78
- McAllen: No. 79
- Houston: No. 95
The AAFA stated that asthma remains one of the most common chronic diseases in the country, and that nearly 28 million people in the United States are affected by it. …