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Americans' Well-Being Continues to Edge Upward

Americans' collective well-being was slightly higher this June than it was throughout the summer of 2008 -- prior to the economic collapse -- and significantly higher than in late 2008 and early 2009. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index composite score of 66.8 for June represents year-over-year improvement from June 2008 and also comes close to the Index's all-time high of 67, recorded in February of last year.

With June's 66.8 reading, the Well-Being Index has recorded four straight months of improvement. The Index is composed of six sub-indexes, covering life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment, and access to basic necessities. After it dropped significantly following the onset of the financial crisis last fall, the Well-Being Index score remained relatively low for several months before approaching pre-crisis levels again in April 2009.

The uptick in the Well-Being Index's national composite score in April and May of this year was propelled primarily by a sizable rebound in the Life Evaluation sub-index. The continued increase in the overall Index in June reflects not only sustained improvement in Life Evaluation, but also positive change across each of the other five sub-indexes.

While the June improvements in some of the sub-indexes may be due in part to the effects of seasonality, they likely also point to a more comprehensive recovery in the nation's level of well-being.

Key Findings From 2008 Set Stage for New Well-Being Rankings

As the monthly Well-Being Index score continues to inch its way up, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index is getting set to release midyear 2009 State Well-Being Rankings in August. The following is a review of the top- and bottom-scoring states and congressional districts from the inaugural 2008 rankings.

• The 2008 national average for the Well-Being Index was 65.5.
• With a score of 69.2, Utah was the top-ranking state on overall Well-Being.
• West Virginia's Well-Being Index score of 61.2 put the state in last place.
• Two of the three states at the bottom of the Well-Being rankings are in the South: Mississippi and Kentucky.
• Hawaii ranked first on two of the six sub-indexes -- Life Evaluation and Emotional Health -- but ranked last on Work Environment.
• West Virginia ranked last on three of the six sub-indexes -- Life Evaluation, Emotional Health, and Physical Health.
• Massachusetts ranked No. 1 on Basic Access, the sub-index that looks at 13 items, including access to affordable fruits and vegetables, shelter, and clean water, as well as whether respondents have a doctor and have health insurance.
• Mississippi, the state with the lowest per-capita median income, ranked last on Basic Access.
• Connecticut, the state with the highest per-capita median income, ranked third on Basic Access.
• Six of the congressional districts that ranked in the top 10 for overall Well-Being are in California.
• Ohio had the highest number of congressional districts (3) in the bottom 10 on Well-Being.
• Michigan's 13th District ranked last for Work Environment and California's 14th District came in first.
• Seven of the congressional districts that ranked in the top 10 for Healthy Behavior are in California.
• New Mexico was the top-ranking state for Healthy Behavior.
• Kentucky's 5th District ranks 435th (last) on three of the six sub-indexes -- Physical Health, Life Evaluation, and Emotional Health, and ranks 433rd out of 435 on Healthy Behavior.
• Eight of the top-10-ranking states for Work Environment are located in the West.

These findings are just a sampling of those available at the AHIP State and Congressional District Resource for Well-Being, an interactive database and mapping tool that enables users to research and analyze the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data along with the most up-to-date statistics from the Census Bureau.

Read the complete Gallup-Healthways Monthly U.S. Well-Being Report for June 2009. To learn more about what Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index scores reflect, see page 2.

by Elizabeth Mendes, Gallup