Howard Owens at The Batavian writes about a new Gallup well-being survey that ranks Congressional districts. Here's a summary of the four districts in the Rochester area, sorted by their overall self-reported well-being. The first number is a score, the second is the district's ranking out of all of the districts in the U.S.
| District | Well-Being Index | Life Evaluation | Work Quality | Basic Access | Healthy Behavior | Physical Health | Emotional Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY-26 | 65.9 - 187/435 | 35.7 - 339/435 | 49.6 - 283/435 | 88.4 - 32/435 | 64.7 - 142/435 | 76.9 - 218/435 | 80.3 - 70/435 |
| NY-25 | 65.2 - 237/435 | 38.1 - 272/435 | 44.8 - 388/435 | 87.9 - 42/435 | 64.1 - 169/435 | 76.9 - 217/435 | 79.1 - 188/435 |
| NY-29 | 64.3 - 297/435 | 32.0 - 394/435 | 47.4 - 349/435 | 85.6 - 131/435 | 65.2 - 112/435 | 76.0 - 279/435 | 79.6 - 137/435 |
| NY-28 | 63.0 - 359/435 |
39.8 - 229/435 | 43.0 - 411/435 | 82.6 - 255/435 |
61.2 - 332/435 | 73.7 - 386/435 | 77.5 - 334/435 |
As you can see, only the sad-sack 28th ranks below us in well-being. Here's another chart, this time with Census demographics. Shockingly enough, it looks like income tracks the well-being index pretty closely.
| District | High-School Graduates | College Graduates | In Poverty: Any Age | Household Income: Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY-26 | 85.7% - 105/435 | 25.5% - 155/435 | 6.9% - 376/435 | $46,653 - 134/435 |
| NY-25 | 85.8% - 102/435 | 27.8% - 125/435 | 10.4% - 241/435 | $43,188 - 190/435 |
| NY-29 | 85.6% - 108/435 | 26.1% - 146/435 | 9.9% - 259/435 | $41,875 - 202/435 |
| NY-28 | 79.2% - 285/435 |
21.2% - 247/435 | 18.7% - 65/435 |
$31,751 - 387/435 |
I was called for this survey last week, though I don't know what period this data is from. There's more information on what each of the well-being indexes means at Gallup's site.
Comments
"Well-Being Index." As fascinating as it is useless.
Yeah, it's fun with numbers. If I remember the survey correctly, in addition to the satisfaction (subjective) questions, they asked things like how many times I've done some activities (go to a doctor, exercise, etc.), so the physical health and access columns are probably more meaningful than the overall number.