An analysis from Healthways and Gallup identifies the top states for well-being, based on Americans' perceptions of physical and emotional health, work environments, social factors and access to living necessities.
The 10 states with the highest well-being in the country are:
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Nebraska
• Minnesota
• Montana
• Vermont
• Colorado
• Hawaii
• Washington
• Iowa
Certain states stand out for specific achievements, according to the report. Colorado is always at or near the best in the country for low obesity rates, for instance, and people in Vermont eat more produce than people in any other state.
The analysis is based on more than 178,000 interviews nationwide, 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.
The states that ranked toward the bottom of the analysis were (beginning with the lowest): West Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Ohio.
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