Want to be healthier, less stressed, and leave depression behind? You may want to move to Naples, Florida or nearby Marco Island and Immokalee, where well-being and love of community is highest in the nation.
The place with its Gulf breezes earned the top spot in this year’s Gallup-Healthways poll of 190 metro areas in the US.
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The State of American Well-Being: 2015 Community Rankings annually weighs each city’s quality of life in five categories–purpose, social, financial, community and physical–to determine the happiest and healthiest places in America.
Top rated metropolitan areas in this year’s poll tended to feature lively culture and higher income levels, with half of them located along beaches.
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The tri-city area of Naples, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, did not rank in the top ten last year, but a city located just 117 miles to the north, Sarasota, was voted number one – it fell to #3 in the latest survey.
Here are the top 15 cities for overall well-being:
1. Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida
2. Salinas, California
3. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida
4. Fort Collins, Colorado
5. Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts
6. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California
7. Boulder, Colorado
8. Charlottesville, Virginia
9. Anchorage, Alaska
10. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, California
11. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
12. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California
13. Honolulu, Hawaii
14. Provo-Orem, Utah
15. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
The 15 cities ranking at the bottom:
176. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Indiana
177. Utica-Rome, New York
178. Flint, Michigan
179. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
180. Scranton-Wilkes Barre-Hazleton, Pennsylvania
181. Rockford, Illinois
182. Dayton, Ohio
183. Worcester, Massachusetts-Connecticut
184. Toledo, Ohio
185. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania
186. Chico, California
187. Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio
188. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, North Carolina
189. Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma
190. Charleston, West Virginia
The scores are based on more than 353,000 Gallup interviews with adults in all 50 states, conducted between January 2, 2014, through December 30, 2015. Scores ranged from zero to 100, with high scores being the best.
Naples ranked first with 65 points, while Charleston, the least favored region, scored 57.1.
(Photo: Wilhelm Rosenkranz, CC)
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