The Donald Trump era has brought out a lot of emotions, but good feelings are not among them.

In the past year, almost half the states in the country saw a significant drop in their well-being scores. For the first time since tracking began in 2009, not a single state saw a notable improvement. (emphasis added)

A total of 21 states saw their well-being drop in 2017; the previous largest drop was 15 states in 2009 during the middle of the Great Recession, as the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index poll revealed last week. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the drop is that perceptions of the job market and consumer economic confidence are much greater now than in 2008, Gallup noted.

In general, states in the South and West suffered the largest declines.

The Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being index is comprised of five components that define well-being: “purpose,” “social,” “financial,” “community” and “physical.” Zero represents the lowest possible score for well-being, while 100 represents the maximum.The average score in the United States for 2017 was 61.5, a dip from 62.1 last year. It’s also the largest year-over-year decline since the polling began. South Dakota and Vermont ranked the highest with a score of 64.1, […]

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