‘Well-being’ in Bradenton area is among highest in nation, report says

As it turns out, all that sunshine and ocean air isn’t the only thing that makes our community one of the best in the nation. According to a Gallup-Healthways “State of American Well-Being” 2015-2016 report, the Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port metropolitan area ranked No. 6 community with the highest well-being in a list of 189.

As impressive as that might be, the area’s status is slipping. Two years ago, we were ranked No. 1, and last year we were ranked No. 3.

The five categories used to score each area were financial, community, physical, social and purpose.

According to the report, each category was defined as follows: financial meant managing finances to reduce stress and make life more secure; community meant having a sense of safety and pride within your town; physical meant having good health and energy; purpose meant enjoying what you did every day and feeling motivated; social meant having support and love in your life; and .

The Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port area ranked first in the financial category. The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island area — which ranked No. 1 overall and was the only other Florida area to be in the top 10 — was first in the community category. Barnstable Town, Mass., took first for physical; Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, S.C., had the highest in social; and El Paso, Texas had the best score for purpose.

The area that had the lowest well-being rank was the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma metropolitan area.

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 10:07 AM with the headline "‘Well-being’ in Bradenton area is among highest in nation, report says."