California fell to 13th best in pollster Gallup’s annual ranking of the quality of life in each U.S. state.
Gallup creates this curious livability benchmark through continuous polling of American adults to create its “Well-Being Index” based on five key traits. All told, Gallup conducted 177,192 telephone interviews with U.S. adults in 2016.
The 2016 ranking put California at its lowest level since a 17th place finish in 2013. In 2015, California was ranked 11th; in 2014 it was 12th.
Here’s how California fared in five slices featured in the index:
• Purpose: Tracking the populace’s satisfaction with daily life, California ranked 13th in 2016 vs. 10th a year earlier. Texas ranked first in this category.
• Social: Gauging personal relationships, California ranked 14th in 2016 vs. 18th a year earlier – its biggest ranking improvement. Alaska came in No. 1.
• Financial: Scoring economic security, California ranked 20th in 2016 vs. 21st a year earlier. Hawaii was tops.
• Community: A benchmark of local spirit, California ranked 35th in 2016 vs. 29th a year earlier. It’s the state’s worst score and its biggest rankings dip. Hawaii was best here, too.
• Physical: Measuring of a state population’s healthiness, California ranked sixth in 2016 – its best rating last year – compared with third in 2015. Again, Hawaii came in first.
Nationally, the index reflects a long-running recovery from the recession with significant improvement over the previous two years. One example: Gallup found 55.4 percent of American adults are “thriving” vs. 48.9 percent in 2008.
Health issues looked bleak, however, with incidences of obesity, diabetes and depression at eight-year highs.
Hawaii was the highest ranked state for 2016, followed by Alaska and South Dakota.
Also topping California’s ranking was Maine, Colorado, Vermont, Arizona, Montana, Minnesota and Texas. At the bottom? West Virginia was the worst-ranked state followed by Kentucky, Oklahoma and Indiana.
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