States
HAPPIEST STATES
1. Hawaii
Well-being index score: 71.1 Life expectancy: 81.5 years (the highest) Obesity: 25.7% (20th lowest) M edian household income: $61,821 (8th highest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 90.6% (10th highest)
According to a Gallup poll released Thursday, the United States has shown almost no improvement in well-being in the past five years, increasing slightly from 2011 when Americans reported the most miserable scores since the survey began. The top and bottom states have also remained nearly the same. West Virginia, which received the lowest well-being score in 2012, has routinely been in the bottom two, and Hawaii ranked highest for the fourth year in a row. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which has surveyed 1.7 million Americans since the survey was first conducted in 2008, reflects the physical and emotional health of residents in each of the 50 states. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the scores of each state in the six categories that comprise Gallups index to identify objective measures that impact well-being. Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport explained to 24/7 Wall St. that wellbeing is important because happier, healthier citizens tend to have positive social and economic impacts on the places they live. Well-being is important because of the hypothesis that it leads to good outcomes, Newport said. If your citizens have high well-being, theyre more likely to be better citizens and engage in better behaviors and make things better all the way around. Its a positive goal for those that look at what we ought to emphasize in society. Among the 55 questions Gallup asked residents in each of the past five years, there were certain categories that the states with low well-being tended to do poorly in and high well-being states tended to do well in. States with high well-being had populations that smoked less, exercised more and tried to learn new things each day. These states also tended to share the outcomes of those behaviors and activities residents had lower levels of key health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart attacks, and had more energy. Of the data 24/7 Wall St. considered in addition to Gallups indices, several showed a strong relationship with well-being. It appears that states with happy residents tended to have much lower poverty rates and higher median income. The states with the highest levels of well-being all have poverty levels below the national rate. Having stable income is important because it enables people to meet basic needs such as healthy food, clean water, medicine and health care. We also found a strong relationship between employment and high school graduation rates and well-being. All 10 high well-being states had unemployment rates lower than the national average. All 10 states were in the top 15 for adults with a high school diploma. (continued on next page )
2. Colorado
Well-being index score: 69.7 Life expectancy: 79.9 years (9th highest) Obesity: 18.7% (the lowest) Median household income: $55,387 (15th highest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 90.2% (15th highest)
3. Minnesota
Well-being index score: 68.9 Life expectancy: 80.9 years (2nd highest) Obesity: 24.7% (13th lowest) Median household income: $56,954 (11th highest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 92.0% (2nd highest)
4. Utah
Well-being index score: 68.8 Life expectancy: 80.1 years (8th highest) Obesity: 23.9% (6th lowest) Median household income: $55,869 (14th highest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 90.3% (14th highest)
5. Vermont
Well-being index score: 68.6 Life expectancy: 79.7 years (12th highest) Obesity: 25.7% (20th lowest) Median household income: $52,776 (19th highest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 91.8% (4th highest)
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2. Kentucky
Well-being index score: 62.7 Life expectancy: 76.2 years (7th lowest) Obesity: 29.7% (6th highest) Median household income: $41,141 (4th lowest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 83.1% (6th lowest)
3. Mississippi
Well-being index score: 63.6 Life expectancy: 74.8 years (the lowest) Obesity: 32.2% (2nd highest) Median household income: $36,919 (the lowest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 81.1% (3rd lowest)
4. Tennessee
Well-being index score: 64.0 Life expectancy: 76.2 years (8th lowest) Obesity: 29.6% (7th highest) Median household income: $41,693 (6th lowest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 84.2% (12th lowest)
5. Arkansas
Well-being index score: 64.1 Life expectancy: 76.1 years (6th lowest) Obesity: 31.4% (3rd highest) Median household income: $38,758 (3rd lowest) A dult population with high school diploma or higher: 83.8% (8th lowest)
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