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Friday, March 1st, 2013

For Fourth Year, Hawaii No. 1 in Wellbeing, W.Va. Last

Author:     ALYSSA BROWN
Source:     The Gallup Organization
Publication Date:     28-Feb-13
 Link: For Fourth Year, Hawaii No. 1 in Wellbeing, W.Va. Last
Stephan:   This Gallup survey is very important. Look at the lists, now consider the social policies of the states that are both the best and the worst. This is why I make a point of defining the trends of the various interest groups in this country; I care about social outcomes. This is why I say Theocratic Right, Red value, Blue value. We should be making social policy on the basis of data, not ideology or theology. The proof of this is found in the order of the states in terms of wellbeing. The purpose of government should be to produce wellness. It is the measure of our failure how far we fall from that standard. Click through to see Gallup's always well-designed graphics.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hawaii residents have the highest wellbeing in the nation for the fourth consecutive year, with a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index score of 71.1 in 2012 — up from 70.2 in 2011. Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, and Vermont rounded out the top five states with the highest wellbeing scores last year. West Virginia residents have the lowest overall wellbeing for the fourth year in a row, with a Well-Being Index score of 61.3 in 2012 — slightly lower than the 62.3 in 2011. Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas also had among the five lowest wellbeing scores in the country.

Overall, there were few changes from 2011 to 2012 in the states with the highest and lowest wellbeing scores. Seven states with the 10 highest wellbeing scores and eight states with the 10 lowest wellbeing scores in 2012 held those same distinctions in 2011. Vermont, Massachusetts, and Iowa joined the top 10 highest wellbeing states in 2012. Louisiana, Indiana, South Carolina, and Oklahoma newly rank among the bottom 10 states this year.

These state-level data are based on daily surveys conducted from January through December 2012, including interviews with more than 350,000 Americans nationwide and at least 1,000 residents in each state except […]

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