For the second year in a row, a city in Florida tops the list of the America’s healthiest and happiest cities.
According to the Gallup-Healthways State of American Well-Being 2016 Community Rankings, Naples and the nearby Immokalee and Marco Island measured the highest on their report. People in 189 cities across the country were asked how they felt about physical health, social ties, financial security, community and sense of purpose, Today reports.
Boulder, Colorado and Provo-Orem, Utah, are the only other cities that have reached number one more than once since the survey began in 2008. Naples outranked other metropolitan areas by simply getting high scores across all areas, says Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
Witters says,
Naples does a lot of things right. [People in] Naples really take care of themselves well.
Residents reported feeling proud of their community, being in good physical health, enjoying social interactions and liking their jobs and daily routines.
While others may think that this has to do with Naples being a scenic, wealthy beach community, it seems these factors don’t influence statistics so much. Income is a factor, Witters says, but it does not ensure overall well-being. The median household income of people in Naples was not “off the charts,” as well. As for the location, researchers who have looked into the link between living near the sea and health found that it’s not as strong as people might think.
Rounding out the top ten communities where people feel happiest are:
- Naples–Immokalee–Marco Island, Florida
- Barnstable Town, Massachusetts
- Santa Cruz–Watsonville, California
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Charlottesville, Virginia
- North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, Florida
- San Luis Obispo–Paso Robles, California
- Lynchburg, Virginia
- Hilton Head Island–Bluffton-Beaufort, South Carolina
- Boulder, Colorado
The bottom three, on the other hand, had Fort Smith at the very end of the list. “Fort Smith, Charleston (West Virginia) and Huntington (West Virginia) are probably your big three as far as jostling for that unhappy spot at the very lowest rung on that ladder,” Witters says.
