Hawaii, Utah, Best in National Well-Being Poll

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Tuesday, 18 August 2009 19:35

Washington, D.C., August 2009 – The latest Gallup Poll shows Americans in Hawaii and Utah continued to lead the nation in well-being in the first half of 2009, with the two states having switched places since 2008. West Virginia and Kentucky maintained their status as the states with the lowest well-being. The top 10 states in well-being, starting with the best, are: Hawaii, Utah, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Virginia and Idaho. The bottom 10, beginning with the worst, are: West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Alabama, Indiana, Tennessee, Nevada and Rhode Island. These state-level data are from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index and the AHIP State and Congressional District Resource for Well-Being, and are meant to provide a preliminary reading on the well-being of the states of the nation in anticipation of the complete 2009 rankings, which will encompass all 12 months of the year. The Well-Being Index score for the nation and for each state is an average of six sub-indexes, which individually examine life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and access to basic necessities. The January through June 2009 aggregate includes more than 170,000 interviews conducted among national adults, aged 18 and older. The midyear 2009 Well-Being Index score for the country so far in 2009 is 65.1, a moderate decline from 65.5 in 2008. The Well-Being Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where a score of 100 would represent ideal well-being. Well-Being Index scores among states vary by a range of 9.5 points. Looking at change over time among states, Iowa's Well-Being Index composite score moved up the most, from 65.6 in 2008 to 67.5 in the first half of 2009. Well-being in Wyoming has trended down the most, dropping to 65.9 in 2009 from 68.0 last year, though it should be noted that Wyoming has a relatively small sample size at this point and thus a larger margin of error. Four of the top 10 scoring states -- Iowa, North Dakota, Kansas, and Minnesota -- are in the Midwest. As in 2008, many of the states with lower Well-Being Index scores are located in the South. Nevada is the only Western state in the bottom 10. SOURCE: Gallup Poll < Prev   Next >