The Well-Being Index data has just been released for US cities, based on the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The report is an analysis of telephone interviews with more than 353,000 American adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Jan. 2- Dec. 29, 2009. The WBI is an average of six sub-indexes, which individually examine life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and access to basic necessities. The overall composite score and each of the six sub-indexes' scores are calculated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents fully realized well-being.
The top ten metro areas for overall well-being are:
San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, CA
Washington/Arlington/Alexandria,DC/VA/MD/WV
Raleigh/Cary, NC
Minneapolis/St. Paul/Bloomington, MN/WI
San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, CA
Boston/Cambridge/Quincy, MA/NH
Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue, WA
Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News, VA/NC
Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Marietta, GA
Kansas City, MO/KS
The bottom ten metro areas for overall well-being are:
Las Vega/Paradise, NV
Providence/New Bedford/Fall River, RI/MA
Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY/IN
Cleveland/Elyria/Mentor, OH
Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Pompano Beach, FL
Detroit/Warren/Livonia, MI
New Orleans/Metairie/Kenner, LA
Birmingham/Hoover, AL
Additional city rankings are available at http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-02-15-cities_N.htm#table.
According to Gallup-Healthways, "Leaders should be mindful of the well-being of the residents in their respective cities, as it has potential ramifications for economic development, law and order, and a sense of shared pride and purpose."
I challenge you to review the WBI of your city and to begin developing a plan to improve the well-being of your community.
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