Another list, another low ranking. But at least the Baton Rouge area showed improvement in the Gallup-Sharecare 2017 Community Well-Being index, improving 17 spots from the previous year to 160th.
The rankings, released this week, measure how people feel about their daily lives in 186 metro areas. Five areas of life are examined: social, purpose, financial, community and physical.
Communities are ranked by their overall well-being score—based on a scale ranging from a low of zero to a high of 100.
The national well-being index score for the U.S. in 2017 was 61.5—a slight decline of less than one point from 2016. Overall, 2017 was a challenging year for the nation, the report says.
The index reflects a drop in well-being in 21 states, the largest year-by-year decline in the 10-year history of the index.
Louisiana fell to its lowest index score ever, recording a score of 58.9, just above West Virginia. South Dakota is No. 1.
“The data and insights from this report can be used as a call to action for communities around the country, leveraging it to benchmark and identify opportunities for well-being improvement,” the report says.
Life seems to be holding steady in the Capital Region, with its index score inching up to 60.1, from 59.9. The slight increase reflects the region’s improvement in each of the five areas examined.
The Capital Region was: No. 132 in the category of purpose, measuring whether residents are achieving their goals or like what they do on a daily basis; 128th in social relationships; 168th in financial well-being, and 122nd in the physical rank.
For the third year in a row, the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island earned the top spot with a Well-Being Index score of 67.6.
