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American Wellbeing Index

A composite score measuring quality of life across 9 Census divisions, combining food security, housing affordability, employment, health coverage, expense difficulty, AI adoption, and CDC population health outcomes.

✨ Key Insight

The American Wellbeing Index combines food security, housing, employment, health insurance, expense difficulty, and AI adoption into a single score. The gap between the highest-scoring region (West North Central, 67.2) and lowest (Middle Atlantic, 40.8) reveals just how different the American experience is depending on where you live.

67.2
Top: West North Central
40.8
Bottom: Middle Atlantic
59.2
Average Score
0–100
Score Range

Division Rankings

Higher scores indicate better overall wellbeing. Scores range from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

Component Breakdown by Division

West North Central

67.2

IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD

43
Food Security
74.9
Housing
93.7
Employment
0
Expenses
74.3
Health Ins.
90.1
AI Adoption
95.1
Health (CDC)

Mountain

65.6

AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY

43.8
Food Security
92.4
Housing
88.9
Employment
9.9
Expenses
46.5
Health Ins.
73.3
AI Adoption
96.5
Health (CDC)

New England

64.1

CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT

26.3
Food Security
75.6
Housing
99.9
Employment
9.4
Expenses
40.6
Health Ins.
100
AI Adoption
100
Health (CDC)

East North Central

62.9

IL, IN, MI, OH, WI

27.1
Food Security
89.7
Housing
98.8
Employment
5.7
Expenses
59.3
Health Ins.
64.1
AI Adoption
93.4
Health (CDC)

Pacific

62.8

AK, CA, HI, OR, WA

21
Food Security
70.7
Housing
93.7
Employment
11.6
Expenses
77.6
Health Ins.
74.4
AI Adoption
97.6
Health (CDC)

East South Central

59.6

AL, KY, MS, TN

14.2
Food Security
81
Housing
100
Employment
13.8
Expenses
64.8
Health Ins.
75.2
AI Adoption
74.7
Health (CDC)

West South Central

57.8

AR, LA, OK, TX

44
Food Security
88.4
Housing
96.4
Employment
9.7
Expenses
0
Health Ins.
65.6
AI Adoption
87.8
Health (CDC)

South Atlantic

51.8

DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV

24.2
Food Security
28.8
Housing
97.6
Employment
9.6
Expenses
47.3
Health Ins.
71.6
AI Adoption
94.9
Health (CDC)

Middle Atlantic

40.8

NJ, NY, PA

0
Food Security
0
Housing
94.3
Employment
5.4
Expenses
74.7
Health Ins.
57
AI Adoption
79
Health (CDC)

How the Index Works

The American Wellbeing Index combines seven dimensions of household wellbeing from Census HTOPS data and CDC PLACES health outcomes into a single 0–100 composite score for each Census division.

•Food Security (17.5%): Lower food insufficiency rate → higher score
•Housing Affordability (17.5%): Lower rent delinquency rate → higher score
•Employment (12.5%): Higher employment rate → higher score
•Expense Difficulty (12.5%): Lower expense difficulty rate → higher score
•Health Insurance (12.5%): Lower uninsured rate → higher score
•AI Adoption (12.5%): Higher AI usage rate → higher score
•Population Health (15%): Higher CDC PLACES health score (lower obesity, diabetes, depression, etc.) → higher score

Each dimension is normalized relative to the worst-performing division (which scores 0 on that dimension). The composite is a weighted average of the seven dimension scores. CDC health scores are computed from state-level data and averaged to the division level. See the Methodology page for full details.