The seventh annual Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index Community Rankings Report places Honolulu at No. 2 in the U.S., behind the top-ranked North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton market in Florida.
From 2009 through 2012 Hawaii was annually ranked first on the well-being index, then dropped dramatically to eighth place in 2013 for reasons that are unclear.
The state-by-state rankings in the 2014 Gallup-Healthways study show Hawaii in first place in physical health and financial security, fifth in sense of purpose and relationship to community, and 28th in social relationships.
Among the study’s rankings of the 100 largest U.S. markets, urban Honolulu placed ahead of third-ranked Raleigh, N.C., and No. 4 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. Completing the top five was El Paso, Texas.
The rest of the top 10, in order, are Austin-Round Rock, Texas; Provo-Orem, Utah; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.; the metro area comprising Washington, D.C., Arlington and Alexandria, Va., and parts of Maryland and West Virginia; and at No. 10, Winston-Salem, N.C.
The worst-ranked U.S. market for well-being is Youngstown-Warren-Boardman in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Gallup-Healthways study is based on the results of more than 2.1 million surveys.
Residents in communities with high well-being are more likely to learn new and interesting things, exercise more regularly and be proud of their community. Improving well-being has been shown to reduce health care costs and increase worker productivity.
