In well-being survey, D.C. is number one

To judge by the rhetoric from the midterm elections, Washington, D.C., is a veritable hellmouth. So it might come as a surprise to learn that in terms of well-being, the capital region seems to be doing just fine.

Washington, D.C., ranks first among the 10 major metro areas on an index that measures education, income and life expectancy, according to a new study by the Brooklyn-based Social Science Research Council, the Washington Post reports. The capital is followed, in descending order, by the metro areas of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston.

A remarkable 47 percent of people in the Washington area, which includes the northern Virginia and Maryland suburbs, have at least a bachelor's degree. The median household income in the area — fueled by growth over the last decade in the lobbying and defense contracting sectors — is a sky-high $85,000, according to the latest census figures.

Still, the city of Washington, as distinct from the metro area, has a deep racial divide, the report found. White residents have the longest life expectancy of whites in any state: over 83 years. But black residents have the shortest life expectancy of blacks in any state: just 71 years.

Sarah Burd-Sharps, a co-author of the report, told the Post that tracking this kind of data is crucial for assessing how Americans are really faring. "If you want to know whether we're making progress, you need to measure these things . . . which are as critical to stock-market gyrations and all the money measures which we measure with great intensity," she said.

(Photo: AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)