Utah Tops Survey of Well-Being in U.S.

Hawaii and Wyoming Residents Also Say They're Happy; West Virginia Ranks Last

By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

March 11, 2009 -- No wonder Gallup's pollsters rank Utah No. 1 in the nation in terms of its residents' feelings of well-being. They must talk to lots of people like George W. Marlow.

"It's beautiful," says Marlow, 60, a transplant from Georgia. "It's easy to be physically fit. The people are real friendly. Everywhere you look, it's like a gorgeous painting. The only problem is -- the secret is getting out."

Marlow spoke by cell phone as he stood atop a ski slope 20 miles from his condo in Salt Lake City. His comments came just after the Gallup polling organization, in partnership with Healthways and America's Health Insurance Plans, released a state-by-state "well-being" survey -- a look at how residents feel about physical, mental, and emotional health, among other factors.

Utah scored 69.2 (out of a possible 100), compared to a national average of 65.5. It was followed on the top 10 list by Hawaii, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, Maryland, Washington, Massachusetts, California, and Arizona.

West Virginia ranked last in well-being with a score of 61.2.

The survey involved more than 350,000 interviews of people 18 and older during 2008. Participants were asked dozens of questions, including whether they laughed the day before the survey, whether they ate a healthy diet, and how much access they had to health care and exercise facilities.

Healthways' Melissa Gibbs says the well-being index measures "life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment, and basic access." Basic access includes categories such as health care, food, shelter, clean water, and safety.

Utah ranked second in life evaluation, first in work quality, eighth in basic access to such things as health care, 13th in healthy behavior, seventh in physical health, and 10th in emotional health.

Regionally, the highest well-being scores were registered in the West; the lowest were in the Midwest and the South.

Jim Harter, PhD, Gallup's chief scientist for workplace management, says the survey questions explore exercise and eating habits, access to basic necessities, and work environment.

"Utah is pretty strong across the board in how they evaluate their lives," Harter tells WebMD. "We asked about their day, whether they worried, about stress and sadness, disease, whether they smoked, exercised regularly, and a couple questions about diet."

People also were asked about general levels of life satisfaction, whether they were "able to use their strengths at work, about food, and shelter," Harter says.

William Custer, director of the Center for Health Services Research at Georgia State University, who tracks health conditions nationwide, says Utah is "a healthy state and that may affect their top ranking."

But Utah residents, according to Georgia State University data, have low access to health care relative to people in most states "because they are so rural," Custer tells WebMD.

Gallup says on its web site that the rankings should be used to evaluate the nation's relative health and prosperity, as well as feelings of well-being.

"This project will shine a light on often overlooked issues affecting the American people, including disparities in access to care and barriers to healthy lifestyles," Karen Ignagni, president and chief executive of America's Health Insurance Plans, says in a news release.

Marlow, whose native state of Georgia ranks 23rd on the well-being scale, says his only mistake was "not moving out here a long time ago. It's a real good place to spend my senior years."

Pam Perlich, an economist at the University of Utah who moved to Salt Lake City from Tulsa, Okla., in 1986, also gushes about the state.

"The quality of life is wonderful," she says. "I am every day struck with the beauty of the place."

And Rob Jones, manager of the university's outdoor recreation program who moved to Salt Lake City 17 years ago from northern California, says he wouldn't live anywhere else. "It's gorgeous, we have wonderful medical centers, and my job is a good gig to have."

State-by-State Well-Being Rankings

Here are well-being rankings for the U.S.

1. Utah
2. Hawaii
3. Wyoming
4. Colorado
5. Minnesota
6. Maryland
7. Washington
8. Massachusetts
9. California
10. Arizona
11. Idaho
12. Montana
13. New Hampshire
14. Vermont
15. Virginia
16. Nebraska
17. New Mexico
18. Oregon
19. Connecticut
20. Alaska
21. Texas
22. Kansas
23. Georgia
24. Wisconsin
25. New Jersey
26. South Carolina
27. Iowa
28. North Dakota
29. Maine
30. Florida
31. Illinois
32. Pennsylvania
33. Alabama
34. North Carolina
35. New York
36. Delaware
37. Rhode Island
38. Nevada
39. South Dakota
40. Louisiana
41. Michigan
42. Tennessee
43. Oklahoma
44. Missouri
45. Indiana
46. Arkansas
47. Ohio
48. Mississippi
49. Kentucky
50. West Virginia

State Rankings in Physical Health

Here's how states ranked in physical health:

1. Minnesota
2. Wyoming
3. Hawaii
4. Colorado
5. North Dakota
6. Nebraska
7. Utah
8. New Jersey
9. Connecticut
10. Maryland
11. Georgia
12. Iowa
13. New Hampshire
14. Illinois
15. Massachusetts
16. California
17. Texas
18. Arizona
19. Alaska
20. Montana
21. Virginia
22. Minnesota
23. Wisconsin
24. Kansas
25. Vermont
26. Florida
27. New York
28. South Dakota
29. New Mexico
30. Pennsylvania
31. South Carolina
32. Michigan
33. Idaho
34. Rhode Island
35. Indiana
36. Maine
37. North Carolina
38. Washington
39. Missouri
40. Oregon
41. Louisiana
42. Ohio
43. Delaware
44. Alabama
45. Tennessee
46. Oklahoma
47. Arkansas
48. Mississippi
49. Kentucky
50. West Virginia

The sampling error for the survey is +/- 0.2 percentage points.

SOURCES: Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 2008 survey. Jim Harter, PhD, chief scientist for workplace management, Gallup Inc. William Custer, director, Center for Health Services Research, Georgia State University. Pam Perlich, economist, University of Utah. Rob Jones, manager of outdoor recreation, University of Utah. George W. Marlow, resident, Salt Lake City area. Melissa Gibbs, Healthways.

©2009 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Printer-Friendly Format

|

Email to a Friend