Top 10 communities for well-being

If you're considering relocating, whether for a job or for retirement, you might want to consult the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index before you settle on a new home. The Index, which evaluates 186 communities across the U.S. for five different criteria, finds that 2017 was a tough year for Americans' well-being, with the national Well-Being Index score for the U.S. in 2017 declining from 2016's 62.1 to 61.5. According to the report, this overall drop was spurred by declines in 21 states, "easily the largest year-over-year decline in the 10-year history of the Well-Being Index." No state in the country showed statistically significant improvement compared to 2016, "which is also unprecedented in Well-Being Index measurement." The factors considered in determining community rankings are:

• Purpose—liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
• Social—having supportive relationships and love in your life
• Financial—managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
• Community—liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community
• Physical—having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

Ironically, even as other factors declined, only community well-being managed to avoid sinking and dragging communities down in the rankings. In addition, says the report, "traditional metrics of physical health, such as exercise (30+ minutes at least three days each week) and smoking, continued to improve, reaching their highest levels in 10 years of Well-Being Index measurement." Your choices among high-ranking communities are pretty well restricted to just a few states, with five of them accounting for 17 of the top 25: California, which has seven; Florida, which has four; and Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia, with two apiece. And all five of the top communities in 2016-2017 have been among the top 10 before. In addition, community well-being scores don't always reflect their states' well-being. While Colorado is a high well-being state and has two of the top 10 communities, some of the top 25 communities are located in states that ranked in the bottom 25. Florida, for instance, saw its well-being score decline, but two of the state's communities placing in the top 25 saw their scores rise. Well-being tends to be higher for people in more populated areas, the study finds, with those in larger communities tending to have better physical health—thanks to lower rates of obesity and other chronic diseases. More amenities such as bike paths, parks and physical fitness centers encourage more physical activity, and large-community residents are also more likely to visit a dentist and not smoke. Those living in rural incomes tend to have smaller incomes, lower levels of postsecondary education and are also less likely to have health insurance. They are also more likely to have less access to care, with facilities some distance away. But on the flip side, those in small communities and rural areas have higher community well-being, feeling save, being involved in volunteer activities and feeling that their area is "perfect" for them.