Hawaii Tops U.S. in Well-Being in 2018
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Hawaii regained its position at the top, with the highest well-being score in the nation of 64.6
- Colorado remains in the top ten for overall well-being
- West Virginia ranked the lowest for tenth straight year
For the seventh time since 2008, Hawaii has the highest well-being score in the nation, based on data collected in 2018 as a part of the Sharecare Well-Being Index. Hawaii achieved its No. 1 ranking by landing first positions across three well-being domains, including financial, social, and purpose scores. Hawaii was also among the top five states for community and physical well-being. Other top ranked states include Wyoming and Alaska – neither of which ranked in the top 10 in the prior year’s rankings.
Top 10 and Bottom 10 States by Overall Well-Being Score, 2018
Hawaii and Colorado are the only states to have ranked among the top 10 every year since the inception of the Well-Being Index in 2008. In contrast, West Virginia exhibited the lowest score for well-being for the 10th year in a row. Other states at the bottom include Arkansas and Kentucky, who both also ranked in the bottom 10 in 2017.
“With our longstanding Blue Zones Project deployment across the state, we are excited to see Hawaii once again at the top of our rankings”, says Michael Acker, SVP and General Manager of Blue Zones Project by Sharecare. “Based on Hawaii’s strong commitment to the Blue Zones® principles, and to well-being broadly, the state has ranked in the top 5 across physical, community, and financial domains for our last 4+ rankings. This commitment exemplifies how a collaborative, focused and concerted approach to transforming community health leads to consistent and unequivocal results.”
Regionally, states in the Northern Plains and Mountain West performed the best in the ranking; the states with the lowest well-being are found in the South and industrial Midwest.
The Sharecare Well-Being Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest possible well-being and 100 represents the highest possible well-being. The Well-Being Index score for the U.S. and for each state is made up of metrics within each of the five essential elements of well-being:
- Purpose: 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
SURVEY METHODS
Beginning in January 2018, Gallup surveyed U.S. adults aged 18 and older living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia using a dual mail and web-based methodology. Gallup sampled individuals using an address-based sampling (ABS) frame, which was a representative list of all U.S. households. In their survey invitation, sample members were provided with a mail survey and a link and a unique access code if they would prefer to complete the survey online. Gallup purchased samples for this study from Survey Sampling International. Gallup chose respondents at random within each household based on which member had the next birthday. Gallup included Spanish-language surveys and related materials for households that had a high likelihood of including a Spanish language speaker, based on U.S. Census records.
Learn more about how the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index works.