There are plenty of reasons to be satisfied with Massachusetts. The commonwealth boasts a wealth of amenities for residents to enjoy. There are mountains and lakes to the west, a technological and innovation hub to the east, Cape Cod to the south and the scenic North Shore to the, well, north. It’s not surprising, then, that one Bay State city made Gallup’s latest list of most satisfied communities.
Gallup conducted a survey of 531,630 adults from the 50 states and Washington D.C. over two separate periods: January 2 to December 29, 2012; and January 2 to December 30, 2013. Gallup then aggregated the data together to come up with which cities boasted the highest contentment. It was determined that on a national level, 85 percent of Americans reported feelings of satisfaction between 2012 and 2013.
Based on their findings, the Cape town of Barnstable came in as the sixth most satisfied metropolitan area with their community. A solid 92.3 percent of those surveyed are elated with their surroundings. Interestingly, the rest of the top ten metro areas are all westward.
Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo. came in as the most satisfied with 94.9 percent of those surveyed concurring followed closely by San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.; Holland-Grand Haven, Mich.; Billings, Mont.; and Boulder, Colo.
Barnstable’s high ranking comes as no surprise, really, when we think about it. Earlier in April, Gallup conducted a similar wellness poll, this one specific to obesity, and found that Barnstable is amongst the least obese communities in the entire country.
The most unsatisfied communities are actually happier than they have been in the past. Notes Gallup, “The satisfaction levels in the lowest-rated U.S. communities have improved since 2008, when the lowest rated community, Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark., had 68.8% of its residents satisfied with the area where they lived.”
This time, the least satisfied communities are Rockford, Ill. with 72.8 percent followed by Stockton, Calif.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Flint, Mich.; and Jackson, Miss.
Gallup also polled which communities are the most optimistic about positive change for their community and which are the most pessimistic. Some of the least satisfied cities are also the least optimistic, like Binghamton, Ny. which came in as the sixth least satisfied and the least optimistic overall. Flint, Mich. and Stockton, Calif. also made appearances on the list.
“In communities with higher satisfaction rates,” continues Gallup, “residents are more likely to be optimistic that the area is improving than are residents of communities with lower satisfaction rates.”
