The 20 Happiest, Healthiest Cities In America

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Happy and healthy employees contribute largely to a business' success. As CEO, you may not have complete control over the atmosphere of the office. In fact, how many endorphins your employees have may depend on where the office is located.

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The Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index uncovered the cities where people are overall the happiest and healthiest.

The poll surveyed more than 300,000 Americans, asking questions about their jobs, finances, physical health, emotional state of mind, and communities.

Most of the happiest cities are out West and many of the unhappiest are in the South. Wealthier communities had a tendency to score higher while many of the bottom ten are in troubled economic areas.

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Here's how each city's index was determined:

exercise
Niels M. Knudsen

Work experience: an index measuring participants' perception on their work experience including job satisfaction, treatment, and office environment and interactions.

Physical health: an index measuring the participants' sick days, obesity, rest, health problems, energy, flu, colds, and headaches.

Emotional health: an index measuring the participants' daily experiences of smiling, happiness, laughing, sadness, anger, stress, and worry.

Life evaluation: a self-evaluation of one's current personal well being and expected personal well being in five years. Participants rated each on a zero to ten scale.

Healthy behavior: an index measuring lifestyle habits such as smoking, exercise frequency, diet, and consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Basic access: an index measuring access to necessities such as medicine, affordable healthy food, doctors, health insurance, and safety.

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index

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#20 San Francisco, Calif.

San Fran

Work experience: 81

Physical health: 28

Emotional health: 79

Healthy behavior: 13

Basic access: 38

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#19 Lexington, KY

horses
David Paul Ohmer via flickr

Work experience: 6

Physical health: 92

Emotional health: 47

Healthy behavior: 113

Basic access: 44

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#18 Norwich, Conn.

connecticut land sell-off
flickr from Steadyjohn

Work experience: 77

Physical health: 70

Emotional health: 18

Healthy behavior: 31

Basic access: 11

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#17 Lancaster, Pa.

pristine
NIcholas_T via flickr

Work experience: 23

Physical health: 24

Emotional health:10

Healthy behavior: 38

Basic access: 6

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#16 Minneapolis, Minn.

Minneapolis

Work experience: 45

Physical health:11

Emotional health:11

Healthy behavior: 70

Basic access: 5

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#15 Raleigh, NC

thanks
Joe Shablotnik via flickr

Work experience: 12

Physical health: 13

Emotional health: 23

Healthy behavior: 68

Basic access: 18

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#14 Santa Cruz, Calif.

surfing
Wonderland via flickr

Work experience: 56

Physical health: 30

Emotional health: 50

Healthy behavior: 1

Basic access: 73

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#13 Killeen, Tex.

beauty texas
ap

Work experience: 75

Physical health: 74

Emotional health: 8

Healthy behavior: 72

Basic access: 54

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#12 Cedar Rapids, Iowa

dog
3Neus via flickr

Work experience: 124

Physical health: 5

Emotional health: 1

Healthy behavior: 35

Basic access: 4

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#11 Naples, Fla.

dog
Photography by J. Campbell via flickr

Work experience: 135

Physical health: 2

Emotional health: 9

Healthy behavior: 2

Basic access: 84

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#10 Oxnard, Calif.

palm trees
Kevin via flickr

Work experience: 5

Physical health: 36

Emotional health: 85

Healthy behavior: 14

Basic access: 36

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#9 Ogden, Utah

bison
D. Sharon Pruitt via flickr

Work experience: 7

Physical health: 73

Emotional health: 126

Healthy behavior: 46

Basic access: 14

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#8 Washington, D.C. Metro Area

white house
dcJohn via flickr

Work experience: 91

Physical health: 12

Emotional health: 15

Healthy behavior: 40

Basic access: 24

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#7 San Jose, Calif.

san jose

Work experience: 14

Physical health: 8

Emotional health: 51

Healthy behavior: 10

Basic access: 27

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#6 Santa Barbara, Calif.

santa barbara
Christa Bike By The Sea via flickr

Work experience: 19

Physical health: 16

Emotional health: 48

Healthy behavior: 3

Basic access: 86

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#5 Santa Rosa, Calif.

santa rosa
jimg944 via flickr

Work experience: 16

Physical health: 32

Emotional health: 33

Healthy behavior: 5

Basic access: 48

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#4 Provo, Utah

utah
tata_aka_T via flickr

Work experience: 49

Physical health: 4

Emotional health: 5

Healthy behavior: 37

Basic access: 12

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#3 Honolulu, Hawaii

honolulu
Off to the mall Dan Zen on flick

Work experience: 36

Physical health: 3

Emotional health: 2

Healthy behavior: 8

Basic access: 8

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#2 Holland, Mich.

lighthouse
Sandysphotos2009 via flickr

Work experience: 31

Physical health: 1

Emotional health: 3

Healthy behavior: 50

Basic access: 1

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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#1 Boulder, Colo.

boulder
Dryad and Sprite Photography via flickr

Work experience: 1

Physical health: 7

Emotional health: 27

Healthy behavior: 4

Basic access: 10

Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Low numbers are good.

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