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Gallup-Healthways released its Well-Being Index for 2014 on Thursday, and West Virginia is the most miserable state in America for the sixth straight year. It was followed by Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Mississippi to round out the bottom five states.The Gallup-Healthways data is based on over 176,000 interviews with US adults from January until December 2014. It tests five essential elements of well-being, including motivation to achieve goals (purpose), having positive relationships (social), economic satisfaction (financial), feeling safe and having pride in where you live (community), and taking care of your health (physical).Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Kentucky are the only five states to be in the bottom 10 for well-being since the poll began in 2008, according to Gallup.West Virginia ranked the lowest in both physical well-being as well as for "purpose" or liking what you do every day. It was the only state to rank dead-last in two of the five categories.West Virginia's welfare is not new fodder in the media. The state's economy relies heavily on coal production, a dying industry that is rapidly losing jobs and has little career growth. Its population is one of the least educated in America and 35.1% of West Virginia's adult population are also obese, according to the nonprofit State of Obesity website, which is the highest rate in the nation.According to the Gallup-Healthways data, Illinois had the lowest community well-being rating, Rhode Island had the lowest social well-being rating, and Mississippi had the worst financial well-being rating in America.Check out the full state rankings below.
