The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Nancy Badertscher
March 12, 2009

They’re cheery in Cherokee and content in east Cobb.

And the combination helped make Georgia’s 6th Congressional District home to some of the nation’s happiest people, a nationwide survey found.

The district, which takes in parts of DeKalb and Fulton counties, ranked second in the survey in “overall well-being” among the nation’s 435 congressional districts.

The top rating went to another wealthy district south of San Francisco, according to the survey by Gallup, in partnership with Healthways and America’s Health Insurance Plans.

But Georgia’s 6th district also stood out among the happiest, with 93.5 percent of respondents saying they experienced happiness during the previous day, compared with 87.8 percent nationally and 87.5 statewide.

Sixth District Congressman Tom Price of Roswell said Wednesday his district deserves the “happiest” distinction.

“It’s full of hard-working folks who love their county and love their community,” Price said. “They care deeply about what’s going on in the nation and the world today, and concern breeds involvement. And involvement breeds a greater level of happiness.”

In the survey, 355,334 Americans —- including 9,222 Georgians —- were asked 42 questions on topics from their eating and exercise habits to their work environment and access to basic necessities.

Georgia ranked 23rd among the 50 states in overall well-being.

One question that bolstered the 6th District’s ranking asked respondents whether their supervisor acted more like a boss or a partner. Eighty-two percent of the district’s respondents said: “partner.”

“That plays into your emotional health because people spend so much of their day at work,” said Amy Neftzger, lead researcher and director of surveys and assessments for Healthways.

Residents of the district were pretty upbeat about their current life, rating it, on average, a 7.1 on a scale in which 0 was the worst possible life and 10 the best, Neftzger said.

Christine C. Solomon, a home schooling mother from east Cobb County, counts her family among the happy residents of Price’s district.

“God has blessed us with four healthy children, a comfortable home, a household income that hasn’t been disrupted yet by the economy, and the ability of one of us to stay home and home school the children.”