Peoria best city in Illinois, 35th top city in U.S. well-being ranking
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- Published on Wednesday, 26 March 2014 13:58
- Written by Paul Gordon
Peoria ranks at the top in Illinois and 35th in the country in the annual measure of well-being compiled by Gallup-Healthways, aimed at civic leaders in the nation's largest 189 cities.
Peoria's ranking in the 2013 State of American Well-Being Index released this week shows the community, for the most part, is thriving in terms of being productive, performance and cost and that its residents surveyed for the report are satisfied with their lives.
Peoria ranked No. 62 in the 2012 Well-Being Index, which was the most recent reported.
The report notes that cities with higher-ranked states of well-being didn't achieve that status by accident, but by cultivating and embracing a culture of well-being, with leaders of business, government, education, healthcare, faith and the arts acting on the philosophy that improving well-being for its people is "how we do things here."
For business and civic leaders, the high ranking is something to hang their hats on but it also shows there is still work to be done to continually improve the community's well-being, according to the leadership of Gallup and Healthways.
"High well-being means healthier populations, more productive and profitable businesses and more economically vibrant communities," said the CEOs of the two companies, Ben R. Leedle Jr. of Healthways and Jim Clifton of Gallup, in a letter in the report.
The report, which can be viewed www.well-beingindex.com., is the sixth annual report that the companies who collaborate on it have prepared in their effort to "create a new normal ̶ one with well-being at its core." More than 2 million interviews have been done through the six years to measure well-being, which "provides the dual benefits of educating individuals on what well-being is and giving leaders insights into what interventions to take at the population levels," said the report.
"Well-being is your business. Chronic disease and obesity are on the rise, healthcare costs continue to be the No. 1 expense item for many businesses, and workers tell us that relationships in the workplace have declined significantly over the past six years. It's time for leaders at all levels in all sectors to take notice," Leedle and Clifton wrote.
"Well-being is our business. For more than 50 years, Gallup and Healthways, in partnership with leading economists, psychologists, and other scientists have been exploring the dimensions of a life well-lived. We understand what differentiates a thriving life from one spent suffering — and the impact of well-being on measurable business value," they added.
The survey measures:
- · Life evaluation
- · Work environment
- · Emotional health
- · Basic access
- · Physical health
- · Healthy behavior
Those factors all combine to make up a person's well-being more so than measuring factors that we most often hear about, the report said. "Measures such as unemployment, GDP, and health statistics are essential, but less than adequate in optimizing change. They reflect the past. People make decisions based on what they directly experience. Leaders need to know what their constituents are experiencing today so that they have a better understanding of how today's decisions will impact the future."
Noting the composite index of the surveys decreased in 2013, from a score of 66.7 in 2012 to 66.2, the report said the decline resulted from lower scores in physical health, healthy behavior and life evaluation. The report further noted that the three most dominant trends in the six years of the Well-Being report has been a continuing decrease in the number of people with health insurance, an increase in obesity across the country and declining scores in work environment.
"Well-being is more important than ever to our nation, be it for the sake of rising healthcare costs, the health and vitality of our citizens, or the productivity and performance of our workers. Our measurement confirms some languishing national trends but also provides a roadmap to improve well-being, which can be accomplished through a determined, shared commitment by policy-makers, business leaders, and individuals," the report said.
The top 10 metropolitan areas for well-being in 2013 were:
- · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
- · San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
- · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- · Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
- · Denver-Aurora, CO
- · Raleigh-Cary, NC
- · Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
- · Austin-Round Rock, TX
- · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- · San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
Other Illinois cities in the rankings were Chicago, which came in at No. 67, and Rockford, which was ranked No. 176.
Illinois ranked 22nd among the 50 states, an improvement from 2012's ranking of No. 28, the report showed. North and South Dakota ranked nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the 2013 report.
The report also ranked well-being by Congressional District. The two districts serving Peoria, the 17th District represented by Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, and the 18th District represented by Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, were ranked No. 229 and No. 119, respectively, among the 417 Congressional districts.
