The well-being of Indiana’s residents is among the lowest in the country, according to the 2016 study by Gallup and Healthways, with Hoosiers particularly unsatisfied with their physical and social well-being and their sense of purpose.
Indiana comes in at No. 47 in the 2016 report in the State of American Well-Being series. It only beats out Oklahoma, Kentucky and dead-last West Virginia. It comes in below states including Arkansas and Ohio, who rank 46 and 45 respectively. Hawaii, Alaska, South Dakota, Maine and Colorado rank in the top five.
The study takes into account responses in five categories of well-being: purpose, social, financial, community and physical. Indiana ranks 44th in the physical category, 47th in purpose and 49th in social, in which it beats only Rhode Island. Its highest-ranking category is financial, in which it comes in at No. 30.
Indiana’s overall ranking is a spot lower than its placement in the 2015 study..
There are some geographic trends in the overall well-being rankings, with the Midwest in general faring poorly. Four states — Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia — all rank in the bottom six, and Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Michigan also fall in the bottom two fifths of the rankings.
Nationwide, the study shows a mixture of positive and negative trends. Exercise and health care access are up, and smoking is down. However, healthy eating has decreased, and the chronic conditions — obesity, depression and diabetes — singled out by the study have all increased. According to the study, married people tend to be happiest nationwide, and millennials excel at exercise. Workplace well-being is also on its way up.
Jack Evans
