Poll finds Shasta County residents among unhappiest in nation

Redding Record Searchlight
Thursday, February 18, 2010
by Scott Mobley

Shasta County residents are among the unhappiest and unhealthiest in the United States, according to a Gallup poll conducted last year.

The greater Redding metropolitan statistical area - which includes all of Shasta County - ranked 159th out of 185 metros on a nationwide well-being index developed by Gallup and Healthways, a Tennessee-based firm.
Shasta County scored low across the board on a half-dozen well-being measures, with one striking exception - healthy lifestyle habits, according to the Gallup poll.

Dejeune M. Shelton, senior program manager for the Great Valley Center in Modesto, said Shasta County's low score on the well-being index is not a surprise. Other Central Valley areas scored low, too, reflecting the area's chronic economic malaise, she said.

"The valley continues to have issues we have had for many years," Shelton said. "Now with the new economy, a lot of people have been displaced from their homes, and that adds to the stress. The foreclosures are a serious factor, along with a lot of unemployment and poverty."

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