The town or city in which somebody lives can uncover a lot about them, whether it’s activities they may enjoy or a career which they may have. A new poll, however, finds that certain areas of the United States are statistically happier than others as well.
Gallup and Healthways recently released their annual Well-Being Index Poll in October to identify communities with the highest well-being. Through 354,473 landline and cell-phone telephone interviews Gallup was able to gather data about 189 communities spread across all 50 U.S. states. The survey asked people to rate their well-being from 0-100 on the bases of purpose in life, social support, financial status, community pride and physical health.
The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida, community topped the well-being list and were closely followed by Barnstable Town, Massachusetts, and Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California, rounding out the top three.
Primarily warmer, coastal locations were ranked highest on the list. Cara Ameer, a real-estate agent in Miami, Florida, explained, “With gorgeous beaches and an abundance of activities on the water as well as land the Naples, Florida, area is manageable in size, too. The unhappiest cities tend to have more uncomfortable climates such as very hot and humid, like Southern locations, or go through weather extremes like the Midwest, where they’re cold in the winter and hot in the summer with bad storms and tornadoes.”
Utah, for example, has weather patterns in contrast to those of Florida. The highest ranking of any Utah community, Provo-Orem, reached number 18 on the list while Salt Lake City was far behind at 118. Regardless of weather Kerri Anne Renzulli of Money magazine said, “Orem has invested in family-oriented activities. It also sits between Utah Lake to the west and the Wasatch Mountains to the east, so there’s no shortage of outdoor activities.” Easy access to family-oriented as well as outdoor activities has a very positive effect on well-being.
Other intermountain West cities ranked higher than any of Utah’s, including Fort Collins and Boulder, Colorado. Shawn Teigen of the Utah Foundation said, “Those surveyed appreciate the fact that we have some of the greatest national parks in the country, but that alone won’t make life in the Beehive State great. With all the good there is, there will always be areas to improve. People pointed to traffic conditions. People are worried about transportation now and in the future.” Teigen attributed such local concerns to a lower ranking compared to other intermountain West areas.
