2017’s Happiest States in America
2:40 AMPosted by: Richie Bernardo
People determine their own happiness. But how content we are with life is not only and always a matter of perspective. And it’s certainly not about beauty, power or wealth — at least, not beyond an annual income of $75,000. Where we choose to live can also influence our level of happiness.
In this study, WalletHub’s analysts drew upon the findings of “happiness” research to determine which environmental factors are linked to a person’s overall well-being and satisfaction with life. Previous studies have found that good economic, emotional, physical and social health are all key to a well-balanced and fulfilled life.
To determine where Americans exhibit the best combination of these factors, we examined the 50 states across 28 key metrics, ranging from depression rate to sports participation rate to income growth. Read on for our findings, additional insight from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology.
Main FindingsEmbed on your website<iframe src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/6959/geochart-happy.html" width="556" height="347" frameBorder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <div style="width:556px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="http://ift.tt/2wTrdu9;
Overall Rank |
State |
Total Score |
‘Emotional & Physical Well-Being’ Rank |
‘Work Environment’ Rank |
‘Community & Environment’ Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota | 70.81 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
2 | Utah | 68.16 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
3 | Hawaii | 67.90 | 1 | 10 | 19 |
4 | California | 66.55 | 2 | 21 | 21 |
5 | Nebraska | 65.65 | 4 | 15 | 17 |
6 | New Jersey | 64.97 | 3 | 41 | 8 |
7 | South Dakota | 64.71 | 6 | 16 | 12 |
8 | Iowa | 64.52 | 12 | 8 | 7 |
9 | Wisconsin | 64.16 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
10 | New Hampshire | 63.47 | 18 | 22 | 2 |
11 | Maryland | 63.18 | 10 | 31 | 5 |
12 | Virginia | 62.43 | 8 | 29 | 13 |
13 | Vermont | 61.34 | 19 | 20 | 4 |
14 | North Dakota | 61.08 | 9 | 14 | 28 |
15 | Colorado | 60.84 | 13 | 7 | 33 |
16 | Washington | 60.35 | 25 | 4 | 15 |
17 | Idaho | 60.14 | 31 | 3 | 9 |
18 | Connecticut | 60.06 | 15 | 40 | 11 |
19 | Massachusetts | 59.42 | 20 | 12 | 16 |
20 | Illinois | 59.41 | 7 | 39 | 24 |
21 | Arizona | 56.97 | 22 | 19 | 27 |
22 | New York | 56.54 | 17 | 42 | 22 |
23 | Montana | 55.66 | 29 | 6 | 32 |
23 | Pennsylvania | 55.66 | 28 | 37 | 14 |
25 | Maine | 55.44 | 39 | 11 | 6 |
26 | North Carolina | 54.68 | 26 | 23 | 29 |
27 | Kansas | 54.64 | 21 | 34 | 34 |
28 | Texas | 54.64 | 14 | 33 | 46 |
29 | Michigan | 53.09 | 36 | 18 | 18 |
30 | Georgia | 53.03 | 27 | 24 | 36 |
31 | Florida | 51.83 | 16 | 32 | 49 |
32 | Oregon | 51.72 | 44 | 2 | 23 |
33 | Rhode Island | 51.17 | 35 | 27 | 26 |
34 | Indiana | 50.87 | 40 | 13 | 20 |
35 | Delaware | 50.65 | 30 | 25 | 40 |
36 | Ohio | 49.67 | 38 | 38 | 25 |
37 | Nevada | 48.95 | 32 | 36 | 41 |
38 | South Carolina | 48.55 | 33 | 30 | 45 |
39 | Wyoming | 46.96 | 37 | 47 | 30 |
40 | New Mexico | 45.53 | 34 | 45 | 39 |
41 | Alaska | 45.43 | 23 | 49 | 50 |
42 | Tennessee | 44.29 | 45 | 17 | 38 |
43 | Missouri | 43.86 | 41 | 26 | 44 |
44 | Kentucky | 41.69 | 46 | 35 | 37 |
45 | Mississippi | 38.89 | 42 | 46 | 47 |
46 | Arkansas | 37.33 | 50 | 28 | 35 |
47 | Alabama | 36.60 | 47 | 43 | 42 |
48 | Louisiana | 35.35 | 43 | 50 | 48 |
49 | Oklahoma | 34.97 | 48 | 44 | 43 |
50 | West Virginia | 34.89 | 49 | 48 | 31 |
Happiness is more than a feeling of joy or excitement. It relies on various aspects of a person’s life — from emotional well-being to job satisfaction. To expand the discussion, we asked a panel of experts to share their advice and insight on achieving overall happiness and career contentment. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:
- What are the key ingredients to a happy life?
- How important is money to people’s happiness?
- What are the secrets to career contentment?
- How much does where you live influence your happiness?
Persephone L. Hall Hale Family Director of Career and Professional Development at Connecticut College
Kit W. Cho Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Houston-Downtown
Kimberly A. Daubman Associate Professor of Psychology at Bucknell University
Kevin Gaw Executive Director of the Amica Center for Career Education at Bryant University
Joan Gallagher Associate Director for Student Services and Career Counselor at Louisiana State University
Jill Koehler Chou Associate Dean for Career Development and Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at Quinnipiac University
Jennifer Zwagerman Director of Career Development and Associate Director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University
Bradley H. Smith Professor of Psychology & Director of the School Psychology Doctoral Program at the University of Houston
Danney Rasco Assistant Professor of Psychology in the College of Education and Social Sciences at West Texas A&M University
Ana T. Baida Executive Director of the Department of Career Planning and Development at Kennesaw State University



- Strong connections with other people, with whom to share experiences and who they can count on for social support;
- A sense of meaning and fulfillment from the activities they engage in.


- Be intentional about choosing your career path.
- Take the time to explore yourself and your viable career options, don’t just jump into a field by chance.
- Discern who you are in the world: your interests, skills, values and personality, and understand what careers are needed. As Eunice Hii stated so succinctly in her YouTube video, “Your career lies where your passion intersects the world’s needs.” And don’t believe the famous quote, “If you find the right career, you won’t have to work a day in your life.” This is so misleading, and sets people up to think work will be something fun every day. It will be fun, but like success in sports, it takes a whole lot of sweat equity to reap the rewards of success and satisfaction.





In order to determine the happiest states in America, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Emotional & Physical Well-Being, 2) Work Environment and 3) Community & Environment.
We evaluated those dimensions using 28 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing maximum happiness.
Finally, we determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its total score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample. Our analysis draws upon the findings of the following research, each of which has indicated a correlation between our data and happiness:
- Happy People Live Longer: Subjective Well-Being Contributes to Health and Longevity (Chan and Diener, 2010)
- Happiness from Ordinary and Extraordinary Experiences (Bhattacharjee and Mogilner, 2014)
- Sports Participation and Happiness: Evidence from U.S. Micro Data (Huang and Humphreys, 2010)
- Unhappy Cities (Glaeser, et al., 2014)
- Purpose Score: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Physical Health Index: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Share of Adult Depression: Triple Weight (~11.11 Points)
- Emotional-Health Index: Half Weight (~1.85 Points)
- Adequate-Sleep Rate: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Sports-Participation Rate: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Share of Adults Feeling Active & Productive: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Illness & Disability Index: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Life Expectancy: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Suicide Rate: Double Weight (~7.41 Points)
- Food-Insecurity Rate: Full Weight (~3.70 Points)
- Number of Work Hours: Triple Weight (~5.77 Points)
- Commute Time: Half Weight (~0.96 Points)
- Income Level: Half Weight (~0.96 Points)
- Share of Adults Worried About Money: Half Weight (~0.96 Points)
- Current Unemployment Rate: Half Weight (~0.96 Points)
- Long-Term Unemployment Rate: Full Weight (~1.92 Points)
- Underemployment Rate: Full Weight (~1.92 Points)
- Job Security: Triple Weight (~5.77 Points)
- Job Satisfaction Score: Full Weight (~1.92 Points)
- Income-Growth Rate: Half Weight (~0.96 Points)
- Economic-Confidence Index: Full Weight (~1.92 Points)
- Median Credit Score: Half Weight (~0.96 Points)
- Volunteer Rate: Half Weight (~3.13 Points)
- Ideal Weather: Half Weight (~3.13 Points)
- Average Leisure Time Spent per Day: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
- Separation & Divorce Rate: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
- Safety: Full Weight (~6.25 Points)
from Wallet HubWallet Hub
via Finance Xpress
0 comments