Gallup
recently released the 2011 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index scores for each
of the fifty states. Gallup
gathered the data through surveys conducted daily from January to December of
2011. The data are based on six
sub-indices spanning from work environment to physical condition to emotional
health. Altogether, these
sub-indices comprise the Well-Being Index, which is calculated on a 0 to 100
scale. In 2011, the nation’s
Well-Being Index was 66.2, down from 66.8 in 2010 and the lowest score since
the study began in 2008. The five
states with the highest scores were Hawaii, North Dakota, Minnesota, Utah, and
Alaska, in that order, while Ohio, Delaware, Mississippi, Kentucky, and West
Virginia marked the five states with the lowest well-being scores. Nine of the top ten states were located
in the West or the Midwest, while Southern states accounted for five of the ten states with the lowest scores. Alaskans
were the most likely to rate their lives as “thriving,” giving the state the
highest score in the Life Evaluation Index in the nation. Massachusetts led the way in the Basic
Access sub-index with a score of 86.6, indicating that the state’s residents
have the greatest access to items essential to wellbeing, like food, medicine,
shelter, a secure environment in which to exercise, and satisfaction with one’s
community. On the other end of
this metric was Mississippi, scoring 77.6 and ranking last in Basic Access for
the second straight year. Hawaii’s
residents performed the best in the Healthy Behaviors sub-index with a score of
68.9, meaning that Hawaiians have good eating and exercise habits, while also
maintaining low smoking rates.
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