WASHINGTON - If you live in the Washington area, it may sound hard to believe with how much everybody gripes about traffic and how many hours everybody works, but you're probably happier than folks who live in other large cities.
The latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index finds D.C. area residents are the happiest of the nation's 52 largest cities.The survey measures your well being on these factors: life evaluation, emotional health, work environments, physical health, healthy behaviors and basic access.
The poll finds 85 percent of people in the region don't smoke and 72 percent go to the dentist annually, leading to healthier lives.
Meanwhile, residents tell The Examiner that free museums, parks and monuments create an area rich in culture and pleasant scenery.
Here are the happiest largest metropolitan areas:
- D.C.
- Austin, Texas
- San Jose, Calif.
- Seattle
- San Francisco
Gallup came to its conclusions through telephone interviews, talking with 352,840 adults between Jan. 2, 2010 and Dec. 29, 2010.
