Gallup and Healthways recently released 2011 Well-Being Index state and city findings -- covering everything from access to healthcare to obesity rates. These data are based on daily surveys of at least 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide conducted from January through December 2011.
Here are the states and cities that performed best and worst on key well-being metrics in 2011:
Overall Well-Being
Bests: Hawaii residents had the highest well-being in the nation in 2011 with a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index score of 70.2 out of 100, maintaining that state's No. 1 status for a third consecutive year. Western and Midwestern states earned 9 of the 10 highest well-being scores. Lancaster, Pa., had the highest Well-Being Index score in the U.S. across the 190 metropolitan areas that Gallup and Healthways surveyed in 2011, followed by four university towns.
Worsts: West Virginia residents had the lowest well-being, with a score of 62.3, slightly improved from 61.7 in 2010. Southern states accounted for half of the 10 lowest well-being scores. Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio, had the lowest Well-Being Index score among metropolitan areas for the second year in a row.
Obesity
Bests: Colorado had the lowest adult obesity rate in the nation in 2011, as it did last year, and it is the only state where fewer than 20% of adults are obese. The national obesity rate declined slightly to 26.1% in 2011, from 26.6% in 2010. Western and Northeastern states still boast the lowest obesity rates in the country. People living in the metropolitan area of Boulder, Colo., were the least likely to be obese, at 12.1%.
Worsts: West Virginia holds on to the negative distinction of being the state with the highest obesity rate; 35.3% of its residents are obese, the highest for any state that Gallup and Healthways have found since 2008. Obesity rates remain highest in many Southern and Midwestern states. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, residents were the most likely to be obese among the residents in the 190metropolitan areas surveyed in 2011, at 38.8%
Chronic Disease
Bests: Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah were the states with the lowest rates of high blood pressure, respectively. Colorado, Montana, and Minnesota were the states with the lowest rates of diabetes. The rates of the two diseases were unchanged in almost all states and even declined in some in 2011.
Worsts: West Virginia residents had the highest rates of diabetes, followed by Kentucky andMississippi. Residents of West Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama had the highest rates of high blood pressure.
Health Insurance
Bests: Massachusetts remains the state with the lowest percentage of uninsured, at 4.9%. Vermont, Hawaii, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin also have uninsured rates below 10%.
Worsts: Texas continues to be the state with the highest percentage of residents without health insurance, at 27.6%. States with the highest proportions of residents lacking health insurance are in the Southern and Western parts of the country.
Community Optimism
Best: Across 190 U.S. metro areas, residents of Provo-Orem, Utah, are the most likely nationwide to say their city or area is getting better as a place to live, at 76%.
Worst: Residents of Binghamton, N.Y., are the least optimistic, at 27.8%.
To map, sort, and export state well-being data, be sure to visit Gallup's "State of the States" interactive.