• U.S.

This State Leads the Country in Well-Being

1 minute read
A truck passes a street sign named for the Bore Tide at Turnagain Arm in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2014.
A truck passes a street sign named for the Bore Tide at Turnagain Arm on July 11, 2014 in Anchorage, Alaska.Streeter Lecka—Getty Images
By Tessa Berenson Rogers

In terms of well-being, it seems Americans might want to move off the mainland: Alaska came in number one, with Hawaii following at second.

According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, this is Alaska’s first time in the top spot. But the bottom of the list hasn’t been so changeable. For the sixth year in a row, West Virginia came in last and Kentucky came in second-to-last in the 49th spot.

The 2014 index is based on 176,000 interviews with adults from all 50 states from January to December 2014, and is based on five aspects of well-being: purpose, social, financial, community and physical.

More Must-Reads from TIME

Write to Tessa Berenson Rogers at tessa.Rogers@time.com