As part of what is becoming a worldwide trend, the City of Santa Monica released the results of a Wellbeing Index Monday to rate local levels of contentment.

The index, which took more than a year to compile, had some revelations for the seaside city. Among them, only about half of Santa Monica’s nearly 90,000 residents feel they can count on their neighbors, well below the national average of 80 percent.

There was a modest generational split, too, as senior citizens showed the highest level of personal wellbeing while those aged 45 to 54 showing the lowest levels.

As far as civic participation, Santa Monica posted a 38 percent volunteer rate, above the national average of 25 percent. Eighty percent said they voted regularly, though less than a third said their vote had an impact on citywide decisions.

While older Santa Monicans felt a high level of wellbeing, among adults 18 to 24, one in five reported experiencing loneliness most, if not all, of the time. That cohort also reported higher levels of economic concerns, with a third admitting to worry about missing mortgage or rent payments.

City officials are now looking at how the index can help shape future policy.

“By applying the science of wellbeing to local governance, we are looking far beyond the standard economic performance measurements, and creating a more complete and meaningful understanding of our community,” Mayor Kevin McKeown said in a statement. “In pioneering this innovation, we can more effectively improve the life experiences of our own residents, using an unprecedented level of data-driven knowledge about wellbeing to shape public policy.”

Research on the Wellbeing Index was conducted by Rand Corp. and U.K. research institute New Economics Foundation, along with researchers from the Brookings Institution and the United Nations Development Program. It was funded with $1 million awarded last year as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge.

Such a study is of high value to local communities, according to Anita Chandra senior researcher at Rand.

“A government that can use an integrated framework like this to make sense of all the data it collects for shared outcomes is a government that can support or promote wellbeing,” Chandra said.

The findings will be presented to the Santa Monica City Council next month, and locals will have a chance to offer feedback in the near future, according to city officials.