Well-being Survey Result Is Out; Which U.S. Communities Are Included In The Best And Worst Performing Cities

By Jeff Thompson - 08 Mar '17 18:37PM

The annual survey of well-being is out, and Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island located in Southern Florida topped the list similar to last time. The survey is conducted by Gallup-Healthways for the 2015-16 season and got the results of the best and worst communities in U.S. in terms of well-being. The poll ranking comprised 200 communities in total, and the survey was carried out based on the wellbeing of the residents by focusing happiness and wellness of the people.

It included 189 metro areas and took the average of both the 2015 and 2016 results to arrive at the final list. The Gallup-Healthways interviewed as many as 354,000 U.S. citizens from all 50 states in the U.S. and District of Columbia. The survey included various aspects of life including social relationships, community involvement, physical health, and financial lives of the residents of each community. The total score was set in the range of 0 to 100 and cities were ranked according to the maximum score obtained in the survey.

Gallup-Healthways Release Well-Being Rankings for 189 U.S. Communities - where does yours rank? https://t.co/KeCm5uu0It by @WellBeing_Index pic.twitter.com/hLvayhybWV

— Well-Being Index (@WellBeing_Index) March 7, 2017

Naples- Immokalee community has got a score of 66.3, whereas Barnstable Town in Massachusetts scored 66.2 and got the second place. The Santa Cruz-Watsonville in California got the score of 65.9 and placed third in the list. When it comes to worst performers, the lowest on the list is Fort Smith in Arkansas with a score of 57.5 in well-being index. It is followed by Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton in North Carolina with a score of 58.6 and Huntington-Ashland of West Virginia with 58.7 index score.

While many of the cities in Eastern and Western shores performed well in the index, many of the South and Midwest communities failed to appear on top of the list. The lower ranking of South and Midwest communities are considered due to obesity rates and higher smoking. This is the second time Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island taking the top spot as it also topped in the 2013-14 survey.