North Dakota No. 1 in Well-Being, West Virginia Still Last

Well-being has steadily increased in 11 states since 2010

by Dan Witters, Gallup.com, February 20, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- North Dakota residents had the highest well-being in the nation in 2013, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. South Dakota trailed its northern neighbor in second place, with its highest score in six years of measurement. Hawaii held the top spot for the previous four years, but fell slightly last year. West Virginia and Kentucky had the two lowest well-being scores, for the fifth year in a row.

North Dakota rejoined the top 10 well-being states in 2013 after being among that group from 2009 to 2011. South Dakota was among the top 10 in well-being for the first time since 2010, while Washington last appeared in 2008.

These state-level data are based on more than 178,000 interviews with American adults across all 50 states, conducted from January-December 2013.

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