ANCHORAGE, Alaska — If you want to improve your sense of well-being, leave the Lower 48.
A new report ranking all 50 states based on residents’ sense of well-being puts Hawaii at No. 1, followed by Alaska, which held the top spot last year.
Hawaii has been No. 1 in the poll five times since 2008.
“Alaska and Hawaii are both beautiful states in their own way but distinctly different,” said Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
Montana, Colorado and Wyoming rounded out the rest of the top five in the State of American Well-Being: 2015 State Rankings report, compiled from a non-scientific telephone survey of residents across the country.
The survey listed the bottom five as Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia, which has been last in the rankings for the past seven years. Kentucky has been No. 49 during the same time.
The ratings are compiled from questions to residents related to five areas, with a variety of topics:
■ Purpose (with an example question, do you like what you do each day?)
■ Social (do you have loving relationships?)
■ Community (do you like where you live?)
■ Financial (are you managing your economic life to reduce stress?)
■ Physical (how’s your health and energy?)
Hawaii hits the mark for Danny Quan, a taxi company owner and driver who said he likes the water and surfs a lot. He said he has no complaints about life in Hawaii.
“Even if you wake up kind of sad or unhappy, you can just come down to the beach. Or just enjoy the mountains, go hiking or something,” Quan said while gazing at the ocean from Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu.
Across the Pacific Ocean, in Anchorage’s expansive and wooded Kincaid Park, Chad Garner was preparing to go geocaching, a game in which players hide items for others to find using GPS coordinates and clues.
He was born in Iowa, graduated from the University of Montana and moved to Alaska eight years ago.
“I didn’t come here for a job or anything like that,” he said. “I just wanted to be here.”
He loves the outdoor recreational opportunities that Alaska offers — fishing, country-country skiing, running, fat-tire biking.
While the survey gives Hawaii and Alaska high marks, it’s not all sunshine. Hawaii residents said they worry about money and housing.
Alaskans had their problems, too. They didn’t respond well when asked if they felt good about their appearance.
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