Phoenix – The Sweat Shop Capital Of The World?

In celebration of the beginning of summer, Old Spice, the No.1 selling anti-perspirant/deodorant stick and body wash brand with guys, today announced its Seventh Annual Top-100 Sweatiest Cities List — just in time for the season's hot weather. In addition, this year Old Spice is introducing its list of Biggest Sweat Producers, taking into consideration the total sweat produced by entire city populations.

Famed desert city Phoenix burned up the charts again to take the No. 1 spot as America's Sweatiest City in this annual ranking of the nation's heaviest sweaters (based on amount of sweat produced per person). To earn top spot as Sweatiest City, Phoenix's average temperature was 95.1 degrees in June, July and August 2007, resulting in the average Phoenix resident producing 26.4 ounces of sweat per hour (more than 2 cans of soda). With scorching temperatures often in the triple digits, the Valley of the Sun also took this top honor in 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2003. 

"People might be surprised that a city known for its 'dry heat' tops the Sweatiest Cities list," said Dr. Paul Ruscher, associate professor and associate chair of meteorology at Florida State University. "However, sweat tends to evaporate from the skin much more quickly in places like Phoenix and people just don't feel it as much as say in New Orleans or Miami where high humidity leads to that dreaded sticky, 'muggy' feeling. Regardless of where a city falls on this list, there's one thing we can all agree on — hot weather means sweating."

Biggest Sweat Producers

For the first time, Old Spice looked at sweating through the lens of just how much sweat could be produced if the entire population were walking around for one hour on a typical summer day.

New York City leads the list when it comes to Biggest Sweat Producers in the US, even with an average temperature of 73.8 degrees during June, July and August 2007 (that's 20+ degrees cooler than Phoenix). On an average summer day, New Yorkers can produce 1.3 million gallons of sweat per hour — enough to fill the 106-acre Central Park Reservoir in about one summer month (32 days, to be exact!)

The Big Apple is clearly the big winner when it comes to producing the most sweat, more than double the amount than second-place Los Angeles (608,664 gallons of sweat per hour). Our nation's other Biggest Sweat Producers include: Chicago with 449,285 gallons (No. 3); Houston with 387,790 gallons (No. 4); Norfolk, VA with 376,087 gallons (No. 5); Phoenix with 311,629 gallons (No. 6); Philadelphia with 238,869 gallons (No. 7); San Antonio with 229,606 gallons (No. 8); Dallas with 222,420 gallons (No. 9) and San Diego with 184,929 gallons (No. 10).

Other Study Highlights

– On a typical summer day, residents of Los Angeles — the city with the most cars on the road in the nation — can collectively produce enough sweat to fill the gas tanks of 27,667 SUVs in just one hour. With national gas prices soaring past per gallon, it's too bad sweat can't be used as an alternate fuel option!

– Living up to its nickname, the Sunshine State has four cities appearing in the Top 10 Sweatiest Cities, more than any other state — Tallahassee (No. 3), Miami (No. 6), Tampa (No. 8), and Fort Myers (No. 10) — collectively producing enough sweat to fill Shamu's tank in 9.9 hours (that's 6.5 million gallons)!

– This summer, the race for president will be heating up. When it comes to the Sweatiest Party, it's a close contest — however, with slightly warmer temperatures, delegates heading to Minneapolis (No. 79) for the Republican National Convention will be sweating it out more than those heading to the Democratic National Convention in Denver (No. 82).

– When taking a look at what region reigns when it comes to producing sweat, that honor overwhelmingly goes to the South, where residents can collectively produce 3,634,581 gallons in just one hour on a typical summer day. This is nearly double the amount of second-place West region, with 2,088,923 gallons. Next is the Northeast, producing 1,942,536 gallons. The Midwest rounds out the list, with 1,494,856 gallons.

– Like hometown hero Elvis, Memphis burned up the charts, coming in at No. 5 (up from No. 14 last year) and breaking into the Top 10 Sweatiest Cities for the first time since 2002!

– San Francisco is the nation's least sweaty city included on the list, coming in at No. 100. Yet even with an average temperature of just 63.5 degrees during the summer months, each San Franciscan can still produce over 17 ounces of sweat per hour — clear evidence that sweat happens even in cooler weather conditions.

Tips to Stay Cool, Dry and Sweat Free This Summer

– Water — Drink plenty of fluids to replace what you lose through perspiration — at least eight to 10 glasses of water per day – more if you're outdoors and very active.

– Replace Salt and Minerals — Sweating removes salt and minerals from the body. If participating in a strenuous activity where you anticipate heavy perspiration, drink fruit juices and sports beverages to replace the lost minerals.

– Choose Clothes Wisely — Wear lightweight, light-colored clothes that breathe easily.

– Reduce Sweat Output and Stay Odor Free — Use an anti-perspirant/deodorant daily, such as Old Spice Pro Strength, the first clinical-strength offering from the brand. Designed with heavy sweaters in mind, Pro Strength is an advanced solid that provides all-day clinical strength odor and wetness protection.

Methodology

The Sweatiest Cities rankings are based on computer simulations of the amount of sweat a person of average height and weight would produce walking around for an hour in the average temperatures during June, July and August of 2007 for each city.

TOP-100 SWEATIEST CITIES IN AMERICA
Brought to You By the Sweat Experts at Old Spice

1. Phoenix, AZ
2. Las Vegas, NV
3. Tallahassee, FL
4. Tucson, AZ
5. Memphis, TN
6. Miami, FL
7. Houston, TX
8. Tampa, FL
9. Baton Rouge, LA
10. Fort Myers, FL
11. Huntsville, AL
12. New Orleans, LA
13. Birmingham, AL
14. Jacksonville, FL
15. West Palm Beach, FL
16. Montgomery, AL
17. Orlando, FL
18. Dallas, TX
19. Little Rock, AR
20. Corpus Christi, TX
21. El Paso, TX
22. Waco, TX
23. Austin, TX
24. Columbia, SC
25. Mobile, AL
26. Jackson, MS
27. Nashville, TN
28. San Antonio, TX
29. Honolulu, HI
30. Fresno, CA
31. Savannah, GA
32. Shreveport, LA
33. Charleston, SC
34. Chattanooga, TN
 
35. Louisville, KY
36. Tulsa, OK
37. Raleigh, NC
38. St. Louis, MO
39. Salt Lake City, UT
40. Kansas City, MO
41. Knoxville, TN
42. Oklahoma City, OK
43. Atlanta, GA
44. Wichita, KS (TIE)
Charlotte, NC (TIE)
46. Greensboro, NC
47. Evansville, IN
48. Washington, DC
49. Richmond, VA
50. Norfolk, VA
51. Albuquerque, NM
52. Springfield, MO
53. Roanoke, VA
54. Lexington, KY
55. Omaha, NE
56. Reno, NV
57. Indianapolis, IN
58. Baltimore, MD
59. Cincinnati, OH
60. Des Moines, IA
61. Charleston, WV
62. Philadelphia, PA
63. Springfield, IL
64. Harrisburg, PA
65. Sacramento, CA
66. Cleveland, OH
67. Chicago, IL
68. New York, NY
69. Dayton, OH
70. Asheville, NC
71. Los Angeles, CA
72. Columbus, OH
73. Toledo, OH
74. Detroit, MI
75. Grand Rapids, MI
76. South Bend, IN
77. Providence, RI
78. Hartford, CT
79. Minneapolis, MN
80. Boston, MA
81. Pittsburgh, PA
82. Denver, CO
83. Madison, WI
84. Milwaukee, WI
85. Buffalo, NY
86. Rochester, NY
87. Albany, NY
88. Wilkes-Barre, PA
89. Colorado Springs, CO
90. Flint, MI
91. Syracuse, NY
92. San Diego, CA
93. Youngstown, OH
94. Green Bay, WI
95. Burlington, VT
96. Spokane, WA
97. Portland, ME
98. Portland, OR
99. Seattle, WA
100. San Francisco, CA