Gallup poll ranks Arizona in top 10 states with highest well-being

PHOENIX — A Gallup poll ranked Arizona seventh on the list of states with the highest well-being from 2016.

Arizona was one of the top three states scoring high in purpose and social well-being.

The survey was based on more than 177,000 interviews with adults living in the U.S.

Gallup measured five main components to determine which states had the highest results: purpose or motivation, social, financial, community and physical.

According to research by Gallup and its partner Healthways, a wellness providing business, those five components are the core elements to have the best possible life.

The well-being index was calculated on a scale of 0 to 100. The national well-being average is about 62.

The states with the highest well-being are located mostly in the Northern Plains and the Mountain West, with some in the Northeast and Southwest.

States with the lowest well-beings were in the South and Midwest regions.

Website Travel and Leisure attributed the states in the top 10 to being happier because the people in those states have more access to nature.

Age is another aspect that Gallup thinks affects well-being. People over 65 and older tend to be prospering in of the five categories better than people who are 29 and younger.

Hawaii came in first for the sixth time in a row while Colorado came in 10th place.