# Examining the American mindset on community well-being: insights from a national survey

## TL;DR

This study explores factors influencing perceptions of community well-being in the U.S., highlighting the importance of both physical resources and social connections.

## Contribution

The study introduces a focus on community-level factors in well-being assessments, beyond traditional individual measures.

## Key findings

- Access to outdoor spaces, healthy food, and healthcare significantly correlate with higher community well-being ratings.
- Trust and mutual support among community members are strongly linked to perceived community well-being.
- Transportation infrastructure was found to have a negative association with community well-being perceptions.

## Abstract

The United States is experiencing a crisis of well-being, characterized by increasing social isolation, hopelessness, and diseases of despair. Traditional well-being measures have focused on individuals, often overlooking community dimensions that are critical for understanding and addressing broader societal challenges. This study primarily aims to identify the factors most strongly associated with perceptions of community well-being.

We analyzed data from the nationally representative 2023 National Survey of Health Attitudes (NSHA; N = 5,620). Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between well-being measures and demographic characteristics and factors related to community conditions and connections.

Perceptions of overall community well-being varied by income, age, education, and race/ethnicity. Individual well-being was not significantly associated with perceptions of community well-being. Among community conditions, access to outdoor spaces (OR = 2.50), healthy food (OR = 1.67), and health care (OR = 1.39), and safe drinking water (OR = 1.24) were significantly linked to higher community well-being ratings, while transportation infrastructure was negatively associated (OR = 0.77). For community connections, trust among members (OR = 2.08), mutual support (OR = 1.74), and collaboration for health (OR = 1.32) also showed significant associations. These results suggest the importance of both physical resources and social infrastructure for community well-being.

Multidimensional measures of both individual and community well-being can help local leaders and policymakers monitor well-being, set priorities, and design interventions.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-026-26507-0.