Naples, Florida, Metro Tops U.S. in Wellbeing for Fourth Time

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the fourth straight year, the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida, metro area had the highest wellbeing across 156 U.S. communities, based on data collected in 2017 and 2018 as part of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index. Salinas, California; Boulder, Colorado; Santa Rosa, California; and Ann Arbor, Michigan round out the top five metro areas.

	Well-Being Index Score
Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL	65.7
Salinas, CA	64.6
Boulder, CO	64.5
Santa Rosa, CA	64.2
Ann Arbor, MI	64.2
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	63.8
Fort Collins, CO	63.8
Lancaster, PA	63.7
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL	63.6
Asheville, NC	63.6
Port St. Lucie, FL	63.4
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	63.4
Provo-Orem, UT	63.3
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	63.3
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	63.2
Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index

Naples area ascended to the top spot in 2014-2015 and has since remained there. This marks the first time in 11 years of annual Well-Being Index reporting that the same city has topped the rankings four times in a row.

The Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest possible wellbeing and 100 represents the highest possible wellbeing. The Well-Being Index score for the U.S. and for each metro area is based on scores within each of the five essential elements of wellbeing:

• Career: liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
• Social: having supportive relationships and love in your life
• Financial: managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
• Community: liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community
• Physical: having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

In most cases, a difference of 1.0 to 2.0 points in the Well-Being Index score of any two areas represents a statistically significant gap and consists of meaningful differences in at least some of the five elements of wellbeing. Each city reported is represented as the broader metropolitan statistical area as defined by the federal government.

The Well-Being Index score for the Naples metro area, though remaining the highest in the U.S., has slipped from 67.6 for 2016-2017 to 65.7 in 2017-2018, a drop that parallels a significant two year decline in wellbeing nationally.

Gallup tracks wellbeing in metro areas using two-year rolling averages, allowing for larger sample sizes that improve the statistical accuracy of the data and allow more areas to be reported each year. For a full listing of all reportable metros, see the bottom of this article.

Each of the top five cities for 2017-2018 has frequented the list of the top 15 wellbeing cities numerous times in prior years.

Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Has Lowest Wellbeing in U.S. for First Time

The Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula metro -- which held the third-lowest ranking in 2016-2017 -- had the lowest overall wellbeing nationally for the first time in 2017-2018, supplanting Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma and Canton-Massillon, Ohio, neither of which reached the minimum number of completed surveys required for reporting this period. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, Pennsylvania was the second lowest metro, its lowest rank ever measured, followed by Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania. The South Bend, Indiana-Michigan metro was among the lowest 15 cities for the second straight year.

	Well-Being Index Score
Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS	57.4
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA	57.9
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA	58.1
Tulsa, OK	58.1
Rockford, IL	58.3
Bakersfield, CA	58.5
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	58.5
Springfield, MA	58.6
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	58.6
Toledo, OH	58.9
New Orleans-Metairie, LA	58.9
Salem, OR	59.1
Columbia, SC	59.2
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	59.3
Tallahassee, FL	59.3
Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index

Highest, Lowest Wellbeing Cities Reflect State Wellbeing Patterns

Nationally, the U.S. map of highest and lowest wellbeing cities generally reflects the pattern found across states, with the lowest wellbeing metro areas found primarily in the South and then winding north up through the industrial Midwest. The highest wellbeing cities are scattered primarily across the eastern seaboard as well as the Mountain West and West.

Naples Metro Area Among Nation's Best in Most Elements

The Naples metro area was among the top two metros across all elements except physical wellbeing, thus continuing to demonstrate the high levels of holistic wellbeing that has previously characterized it.

Highlights for top-ranking cities in other areas of wellbeing in 2017-2018 include:

• Boulder, a longtime pacesetter nationally in physical wellbeing, was the top U.S. city for the second year in a row for this element. The state of California provided the second- and third-ranked metros: Salinas and Santa Rosa.
• McAllen-Edinburg-Mission topped the nation in career wellbeing, marking the fourth year in a row that the city has been among the highest five nationally.
• Naples residents have the highest social wellbeing, edging out Montgomery, Alabama and fellow Floridian city, Ocala.
• After Naples, the top metro areas in financial wellbeing are Ann Arbor, Michigan; and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California.
• Community wellbeing is highest in the Naples, Asheville, North Carolina and Fort Collins, Colorado metros.

	Highest Wellbeing Cities	Lowest Wellbeing Cities
Career:	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	Syracuse, NY
	Naples-Immokalee-Marco Isl., FL	Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS
	Salinas, CA	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
Social:	Naples-Immokalee-Marco Isl., FL	Tulsa, OK
	Montgomery, AL	Toledo, OH
	Ocala, FL	Springfield, MO
Financial:	Naples-Immokalee-Marco Isl., FL	Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS
	Ann Arbor, MI	New Orleans-Metairie, LA
	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	Mobile, AL
Community:	Naples-Immokalee-Marco Isl., FL	Rockford, IL
	Asheville, NC	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA
	Fort Collins, CO	Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Physical:	Boulder, CO	Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS
	Salinas, CA	Tulsa, OK
	Santa Rosa, CA	Rockford, IL
Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index

The Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula metro was among the lowest three areas for career, financial and physical wellbeing, while Tulsa (social and physical) and Rockford (community and physical) were each among the lowest three in two areas of wellbeing. New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama joined Gulfport with the lowest financial wellbeing.

Implications

American cities are not immune to the significant decline in wellbeing that has occurred nationally across the last two years. Even Naples, which has topped the nation in wellbeing four years running, is susceptible to these broader trends, dropping nearly two points in its Well-Being Index score since last year's reporting period. The manifestation of national trends locally is not insignificant; U.S. cities are at the front lines of American wellbeing and in many ways provide the best environments to improve it. City leaders are often able to create and sustain a culture of wellbeing in ways that leaders of more geographically diverse states cannot. This is critical, as wellbeing can have a very real effect on a wide variety of outcomes for a city. For example, cities with low wellbeing, as a whole, have residents with significantly higher obesity rates and double the heart attack incidence, thus incurring substantially higher healthcare costs.

As city leaders think about strategies to improve residents' lives, they should simultaneously consider recruiting local employers as a key means of driving change, as a critical component to creating and maintaining high wellbeing in cities is an abundance of good jobs and workplaces with engaging managers. Globally, individuals who report that now is a "good time" to find a job have substantially higher wellbeing than those who do not, and those who are employed full time for an employer evaluate their lives much better than others in the workforce do. The incentive for employers to care about wellbeing is substantial, as high-wellbeing cities have workers who suffer much lower rates of unplanned absenteeism due to poor heath coupled with higher overall performance.

Learn more about how the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index works.

	Sample Size	Well-Being Index Score	Physical Rank	Community Rank	Financial Rank	Social Rank	Career Rank
Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL	295	65.7	13	1	1	1	2
Salinas, CA	295	64.6	2	30	36	31	3
Boulder, CO	338	64.5	1	9	19	21	39
Santa Rosa, CA	474	64.2	3	4	16	27	77
Ann Arbor, MI	378	64.2	8	13	2	20	57
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	630	63.8	24	20	5	4	9
Fort Collins, CO	398	63.8	5	3	21	58	84
Lancaster, PA	517	63.7	30	7	12	12	15
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL	830	63.6	21	6	8	7	19
Asheville, NC	524	63.6	34	2	23	11	32
Port St. Lucie, FL	430	63.4	14	27	7	26	13
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	341	63.4	9	31	35	41	55
Provo-Orem, UT	600	63.3	47	23	14	8	29
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	2512	63.3	10	26	33	34	22
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	2797	63.2	12	40	24	60	40
Urban Honolulu, HI Metro	694	63.2	41	33	4	16	11
Salisbury, MD-DE	394	63.2	37	17	40	5	18
El Paso, TX	524	63.1	31	18	129	15	6
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	3516	63.0	11	57	110	6	7
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	1288	63.0	6	92	3	51	70
Lincoln, NE	415	63.0	70	15	11	36	14
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	5378	62.9	19	64	20	22	43
Portland-South Portland, ME	608	62.9	27	10	47	17	62
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	3645	62.8	7	68	15	32	98
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	4240	62.8	15	29	26	25	103
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	3656	62.8	33	25	10	59	71
Ocala, FL	343	62.7	98	5	48	3	4
Manchester-Nashua, NH	383	62.7	17	63	31	13	60
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	682	62.6	16	19	37	101	82
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	704	62.6	69	12	9	95	50
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT	783	62.5	4	90	78	10	73
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI	918	62.5	61	14	28	53	79
Austin-Round Rock, TX	1763	62.5	36	35	46	57	63
Colorado Springs, CO	702	62.5	22	48	44	86	46
Salt Lake City, UT	1169	62.4	35	59	30	79	38
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC	548	62.4	49	37	41	30	23
Madison, WI	735	62.4	23	22	18	127	112
Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN	1768	62.3	87	34	25	40	30
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	5427	62.2	56	46	70	50	31
Chattanooga, TN-GA	518	62.2	59	16	91	55	72
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	7610	62.2	18	83	92	56	42
Raleigh, NC	1204	62.2	57	36	34	38	95
Winston-Salem, NC	552	62.1	53	21	59	33	122
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA	307	62.1	20	112	29	54	78
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	3531	62.1	43	56	65	47	33
Charleston-North Charleston, SC	665	62.1	76	45	83	18	26
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	613	62.0	79	28	67	46	25
Jacksonville, FL	1198	62.0	44	80	107	29	16
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	354	62.0	84	47	139	48	1
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	4090	61.9	52	58	121	83	24
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	3508	61.8	28	86	27	82	99
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA	2022	61.8	25	84	72	45	116
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	2031	61.8	74	55	73	44	48
Green Bay, WI	321	61.7	81	42	6	125	93
Ogden-Clearfield, UT	663	61.7	103	39	42	72	36
Albany-Schenectady-Troy,NY	921	61.7	46	95	17	71	53
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	4554	61.6	48	81	120	64	61
Roanoke, VA	299	61.6	104	49	62	35	41
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA	1013	61.6	68	52	51	103	75
Norwich-New London, CT	296	61.6	58	104	13	104	44
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	13977	61.5	26	85	108	61	85
Knoxville, TN	860	61.5	99	24	54	66	58
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	1745	61.5	113	44	123	62	21
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	2563	61.4	40	65	86	75	139
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	2687	61.4	42	131	119	28	34
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI	330	61.4	60	69	102	136	56
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC	783	61.4	110	38	117	69	27
Boise City-Nampa, ID	699	61.4	105	11	116	112	111
Tucson, AZ	950	61.4	77	99	85	14	51
Rochester, NY	1205	61.4	54	82	43	135	80
Montgomery, AL	348	61.3	137	79	125	2	8
Jackson, MS	441	61.3	111	124	93	19	5
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	1829	61.3	63	77	136	39	49
Duluth, MN-WI	299	61.2	94	43	50	106	144
Pittsburgh, PA	2655	61.2	80	76	32	77	117
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	500	61.2	101	75	69	49	47
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	704	61.1	78	60	64	133	106
Eugene, OR	416	61.1	89	32	118	52	118
Fort Wayne, IN	422	61.1	119	53	79	97	68
Birmingham-Hoover, AL	1035	61.0	138	67	81	67	20
New Haven-Milford, CT	684	61.0	29	132	66	100	127
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	1491	61.0	71	120	95	81	74
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	6465	61.0	45	116	77	96	87
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	619	61.0	86	66	53	70	109
Kansas City, MO-KS	2030	61.0	91	74	38	116	81
Columbus, OH	1829	61.0	123	72	56	93	76
Greensboro-High Point, NC	677	60.9	88	87	127	63	35
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	586	60.9	133	71	39	68	110
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	1536	60.9	82	93	45	120	101
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	796	60.9	75	73	97	91	119
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	535	60.9	124	61	131	42	54
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO	495	60.9	132	8	132	142	132
Albuquerque, NM	959	60.9	32	150	114	43	64
Huntsville, AL	430	60.9	127	41	96	99	131
Richmond, VA	1177	60.8	64	89	109	119	121
Lansing-East Lansing, MI	463	60.8	95	107	61	128	66
Cedar Rapids, IA	335	60.8	106	51	49	153	137
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	2666	60.7	97	54	130	74	92
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	1096	60.7	38	130	55	111	133
Anchorage, AK	361	60.7	50	138	22	138	148
Reno, NV	403	60.7	62	115	71	118	141
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	5284	60.7	65	109	111	78	113
Wichita, KS	631	60.7	121	101	112	84	37
Trenton, NJ	308	60.6	39	134	103	108	89
Olympia, WA	336	60.6	55	125	76	89	143
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro	1950	60.5	112	98	60	102	96
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	303	60.5	148	123	104	9	10
Canton-Massillon, OH	376	60.5	116	91	88	87	126
Cleveland-Elyria, OH	1977	60.5	85	103	84	117	88
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	675	60.5	72	78	135	90	86
Worcester, MA-CT	822	60.5	51	114	137	114	115
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	2410	60.4	73	142	74	80	114
Akron,OH	690	60.4	92	106	87	115	90
Reading, PA	383	60.4	102	102	115	88	69
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV	1432	60.4	96	135	113	85	65
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL	515	60.4	118	118	105	107	45
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	3602	60.3	93	108	99	109	128
Lafayette, LA	363	60.3	141	70	148	37	17
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN	1766	60.3	126	94	90	126	124
Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN	1185	60.2	135	117	68	73	108
Springfield, MO	466	60.2	129	88	75	154	102
Lexington-Fayette, KY	431	60.2	152	50	82	92	97
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY	1128	60.1	107	96	52	137	152
Modesto, CA	346	60.1	117	151	101	24	52
St. Louis, MO-IL	2689	60.1	100	122	98	122	138
Baton Rouge, LA	618	60.0	128	140	133	65	59
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	401	60.0	122	143	143	98	12
Peoria, IL	330	60.0	145	126	57	94	125
Oklahoma City, OK	1355	59.9	143	97	126	140	67
Flint, MI	361	59.9	120	148	58	23	100
Mobile, AL	366	59.9	114	128	154	141	28
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	323	59.8	142	62	140	113	83
Dayton, OH	797	59.7	134	129	63	145	104
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	394	59.7	131	110	94	144	150
York-Hanover, PA	411	59.7	109	119	124	129	146
Killeen-Temple, TX	319	59.7	67	146	150	148	123
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	1463	59.6	83	111	122	150	154
Fresno, CA	630	59.6	66	149	153	123	94
Syracuse, NY	668	59.5	90	141	89	121	156
Little Rock-N Little Rock-Conway, AR	666	59.4	151	100	138	124	136
Stockton-Lodi, CA	453	59.3	125	152	128	110	91
Tallahassee, FL	347	59.3	108	139	145	105	129
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	295	59.3	130	144	100	147	134
Columbia, SC	719	59.2	139	113	144	146	107
Salem, OR	398	59.1	147	105	142	149	145
New Orleans-Metairie, LA	1026	58.9	115	145	155	132	105
Toledo, OH	572	58.9	144	136	134	155	142
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	305	58.6	150	147	106	134	147
Springfield, MA	536	58.6	136	121	152	143	149
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	1036	58.5	146	154	147	139	120
Bakersfield, CA	524	58.5	140	153	151	151	130
Rockford, IL	291	58.3	154	156	80	131	135
Tulsa, OK	951	58.1	155	137	146	156	140
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA	555	58.1	153	133	149	130	153
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA	607	57.9	149	155	141	76	151
Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS	335	57.4	156	127	156	152	155
Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index