9 Best Places to Live in the U.S. for a Healthy Lifestyle
Ready to live your best life? Here are nine of the top states to choose from.
Ready to live your best life? Then it may be time to move to Massachusetts.
In 2021, ShareCare, a platform that provides users with personalized health programs, resources, and information, published its Community Well-Being Index, which, the company explained, analyzes and condenses “more than 600 proven health risk factors into a single measure.”
In looking at clinical research, individual and social risk factors, access to healthcare, housing, and transportation, and local economies, the company was able to create a well-being score for communities across the nation on a scale of 0 to 100. Additionally, the company shared in its results that the current index, which uses the latest available data, is “based on responses from more than 4 million surveys and 600+ social determinants of health.”
Sharecare’s Community Well-Being Index scored the country as a whole at 60.9, which is a slight rise from 2020’s score of 60.5. Massachusetts scored the highest among the states for the second year in a row thanks to top scores across several categories including access to healthcare, housing, and transportation.
Want to see how your state and individual community rank? See the interactive map and find more information about how each category was determined on wellbeingindex.sharecare.com.
Related: 10 Best Places to Live in the World
Massachusetts
Taking the top spot for the second year in a row, Massachusetts scored well across the board, with a total score of 71/100. The report explained, “The Bay State achieved top-10 scores in eight of 10 domains measured: healthcare access (#2), housing and transportation (#2), purpose (#3), financial (#3), physical (#4), social (#5), community (#5), and food access (#8).”
Hawaii
Hawaii, the index noted, came in a close second and has been a “consistent top performer in Index rankings since 2008,” according to the research results. It ranked number one for physical, financial, social, purpose, and community metrics. The researchers added, “Hawaii continues to demonstrate best-in-nation performance across all individual well-being measures.”
New Jersey
New Jersey ranked third overall, coming in second in several categories, including physical, social, and community well-being. As the interactive map shows, the state scored 70/100 and was well above the national average for the food access and housing and transportation categories.
Maryland
Maryland made its way into the fourth slot on the list, also scoring a 70/100, thanks in large part to its physical and social well-being scores, and its ease of access to healthcare for its citizens.
New York
New York state rounded out the top five, scoring a 69/100 due to its ease of access to housing and transport like New Jersey, as well as its feeling of purpose. Interestingly, New York City scored a whopping 89/100, vastly outperforming the national average, for access to healthcare, housing, and social well-being.
California
In the sixth spot sits California, which scored 67/100, gaining high marks for community, food access, and transportation. However, it fell below the national average for economic security and resource access.
Connecticut
Connecticut scored just under California with a 66/100, putting it in the seventh spot. The state had high marks in healthcare access as well as physical well-being. However, it barely reached the national average for economic and financial security, dropping it further down the list.
Washington
Washington state sits comfortably in the eighth spot on the list, scoring a 65/100. The state made its way into the top 10 thanks to its high marks in food access, housing and transportation, and financial well-being. However, it lost points due to its lower general resource access and economic security.
Colorado
Colorado rounded out the top nine, also with a score of 65/100. The "Centennial State" scored high marks in community well-being, access to food, and housing and transportation metrics, but the state scored a bit lower than average on financial well-being and general resource access, pushing it further down the list.
For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
