WalletHub recently discovered where the happiest people in America live.
Analysts compared the emotional and physical well-being, work environment and community environment of individuals living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia using a data set of 28 relevant metric ranges including "depression rate," "job security" and "volunteerism rates."
Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 reflecting maximum happiness. Overall scores for each state were calculated using the weighted average across all metrics.
Here are the states ranked in terms of their overall happiness scores, from best to worst.
Utah — 71.02
Minnesota — 69.09
North Dakota — 67.95
Hawaii — 66.63
Colorado — 61.59
Idaho — 60.93
Iowa — 60.92
Nebraska — 60.65
South Dakota — 60.08
California — 59.96
New Hampshire — 59.50
Washington — 59.26
Wyoming — 59.24
Vermont — 58.01
Wisconsin — 57.80
Massachusetts — 57.42
Connecticut — 57.04
District of Columbia — 57.01
Delaware — 57.01
New Jersey — 56.82
Virginia — 56.61
Montana — 55.49
Maryland — 55.14
Kansas — 54.55
Illinois — 52.60
New York — 52.54
Rhode Island — 52.37
Alaska — 52.23
Texas — 52.23
North Carolina — 52.16
Arizona — 51.51
Oregon — 51.40
Maine — 51.32
Pennsylvania — 49.98
Florida — 49.14
Nevada — 48.23
Georgia — 47.43
South Carolina — 47.06
Ohio — 46.04
Indiana — 45.94
New Mexico — 45.02
Missouri — 44.58
Michigan — 44.17
Oklahoma — 41.36
Tennessee — 39.96
Louisiana — 39.03
Arkansas — 38.22
Mississippi — 36.05
Kentucky — 35.08
Alabama — 34.15
West Virginia — 32.65
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