Watch CBS News

Survey: Floridians' Not So Sunny View Of Life

MIAMI (CBS4) - Many assume that Floridians live the best life. They're close to the beach, the sun shines a lot, and the weather is generally pleasant. But, a new survey from Gallup-Healthways found that Floridians don't have a positive view of their life.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index found that Florida is ranked 37th out of the 50 states when it comes to overall well-being. The index is an average of six indexes: Life Evaluation, Physical Health, Emotional Health, Healthy Behavior, Work Environment, and Basic Access.

According to the index, Floridians rank 46th out of 50 states when it comes to life evaluation; 39th when it comes to work environment; and 16th when it comes to healthy behavior. So, at least Floridians are trying to exercise healthy behavior.

When it came to cities in the Sunshine State, Gainesville topped the ranks for overall well-being. On the flip side, the Palm Bay metro area came in last in the state and near the bottom in the country, ranking 156th out of 188 metro areas analyzed.

But, breaking the numbers down by Congressional district found some disheartening news for South Florida. The 17th Congressional District, which includes areas like Liberty City, Miramar, and North Miami Beach, was ranked the third worst in the nation when it comes to overall well-being.

The 17th District ranked dead last in the country when it came to life evaluation. The Life Evaluation Index includes a self-evaluation of two items: present life situation and anticipated life situation five years from now.

Perhaps the most troubling for the area was that the year over year decline saw the District's overall well-being drop from roughly the middle of the rankings, to nearly last. Life evaluation dropped from the top quarter of the rankings to dead last in just one year.

The 25th District also saw a precipitous drop in its overall well-being index. In 2009, it was ranked 169th; in 2010 it was ranked 396th out of 436 Congressional Districts.

Gallup and Healthways conduct the study by interviewing "no fewer than 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide each day, nearly 350 days a year. Respondents are asked a series of 56 questions related to their health and well-being."

Each daily sample includes a minimum quota of 150 cell phone respondents and 850 landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents for gender within region.

Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.