We all just want to be happy, right? And here in the US, our well being depends on a slew of factors, namely our work environments, access to basic necessities and our personal health. Luckily for us, when it comes to metropolitan areas in America, Boston is one of the happiest places to live. That’s great news for those of us who are struggling to make it through this Monday.
According to Business Insider, Gallup and Healthways teamed up to find the happiest and unhappiest metro areas in the country for their latest Well-Being Index. For the study, Gallup and Healthways went through the following steps in curating their data:
More than 178,000 interviews nationwide fueled the 2013 analysis, which examined Americans’ perceptions on topics such as physical and emotional health, healthy behaviors, work environment, social and community factors, financial security, and access to necessities such as food, shelter and healthcare to create a composite well-being rank for each state, community and congressional district.
Based on those analyses, the Well-Being Index determined what areas are the most happy, and which are the least happy. Boston came in 23rd in the top quintile – not too shabby. In the top three slots were Provo-Orem, UT; Boulder, CO, and Fort Collins-Loveland, Co. Check out the placement of happy areas in the map below:
And as for the most miserable cities on the Well-Being Index spectrum, we’re sorry to see that one nearby area ranked pretty low on the happiness scale. Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA ranked in the bottom quintile and came in at number 155 in the rankings – 34 slots away from the unhappiest area: Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, at number 189.
Check out the bottom quintile below:
Overall, Massachusetts ranked in the 2nd quintile of the Well-Being Index, meaning its part of the second-happiest grouping in the country, as you can see from the featured map above. Not bad, but could be better. Hey – can you really blame us for not being totally happy after enduring five months of winter?
h/t Business Insider; images via Gallup
