Perhaps Rhode Island’s problem is it’s size. I mean, looking at the map that accompanies the results to Gallup’s poll concerning Americans’ well-being, one can hardly tell that we’re in the “lower range” category. I mean, the bottom half of New England is “midrange,” and Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine made the “higher range” category so it looks like the region’s doing pretty well. You can hardly see the little bile-colored spot amidst the region’s green hue.
And yet, there we are, in company with the Deep South.

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index 2009 state-level data encompass more than 350,000 interviews conducted among national adults aged 18 older across all 50 states. Gallup and Healthways started tracking state-level well-being in 2008. The Well-Being Index score for the nation and for each state is an average of six sub-indexes, which individually examine life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and access to basic necessities.