Gallup-Healthways recently released their Community Well-Being Index which scores the happiest and healthiest cities in America. The researchers come up with this information by doing 350,000 interviews in a year and taking into account physical, emotional, financial, community, and social health.
Naples, Florida came in first for the second year in a row, and it was followed by Barnstable, Massachusettes and Santa Cruz, California. Lead researcher Dan Ritters said while the top cities are beachside, it’s not as simple as living by the beach.
“Clinical depression is less likely, and healthy eating is slightly improved, but after that the advantages run out. You don’t need a beach to have someone who encourages you to be healthy; you don’t need a beach to learn new and interesting things; you don’t need a beach to get to the dentist.”
Other cities high on the list included Boulder, Colorado and El Paso, Texas, both of which were linked with high sense of purpose.
