The Gallup-Healthways State of American Well-Being 2016 Community Rankings, released on Tuesday list the top 10 best communities to live in the Stats. The report measures how residents of 189 U.S. cities feel about their physical health, social ties, financial security, community and sense of purpose.
Naples has “muscled its way past” the other top-ranked metropolitan areas by getting high scores across the board, said Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
“Naples does a lot of things right,”. “[People in] Naples really take care of themselves well.”
Residents there report having good physical health, feeling proud about their community, enjoying good relationships and liking what they do each day.
You may think that has a lot to do with living in a scenic, affluent beach community, but those factors don’t influence the score as much as you’d expect. Income matters, but it doesn’t ensure high well-being, Witters said. Plus, the median household income of respondents in the Naples metropolitan statistical area wasn’t “off the charts.”
As far as the beachy location, researchers have previously looked at the relationship between living near the coast and well-being, and found it’s not nearly as strong as you might think, he added.
Angeliki Jackson / TODAYThe top 10 U.S. communities with the highest well-being are:
1. Naples–Immokalee–Marco Island, Florida
2. Barnstable Town, Massachusetts
3. Santa Cruz–Watsonville, California
4. Honolulu, Hawaii
5. Charlottesville, Virginia
6. North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, Florida
7. San Luis Obispo–Paso Robles, California
8. Lynchburg, Virginia
9. Hilton Head Island–Bluffton-Beaufort, South Carolina
10. Boulder, Colorado
