SLO County residents second most satisfied in the country, poll shows

Forget the Rolling Stones: According to a new poll, San Luis Obispo County residents are having no problem finding satisfaction — with their city, that is.

In a new Gallup-Healthways poll of 189 metropolitan areas, the San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles metro area ranked second for overall city satisfaction behind Fort Collins and Loveland, Colo. The survey queried at least 300 adults in each metro area.

The annual poll, published April 11, revealed that 94.1 percent of San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles residents were likely to be satisfied with the area in 2012-13. It is the only California community to make the top 10 in overall satisfaction, which included Holland-Grand Haven, Mich.; Billings, Mont.; Boulder, Colo. and Barnstable, Mass.

The lowest scoring towns were Rockford, Ill. and Stockton, Calif., with scores of 72.8 percent and 73.3 percent, respectively.

San Luis Obispo’s satisfaction score aligns closely with another recent Gallup-Healthways ranking, the Well-Being Index Report. In that report, the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles area tied for sixth place in overall well-being, and first in work environment well-being. The two rankings are closely related, according to a Gallup news release, with cities that traditionally score highly in well-being scoring highly in satisfaction as well.

The survey results can be viewed at http://www.gallup.com/poll/168485/city-satisfaction-highest-fort-collins-loveland-colo.aspx.

This story was originally published April 15, 2014 at 10:07 AM with the headline "SLO County residents second most satisfied in the country, poll shows."