Hawaii is the happiest state in the U.S., and West Virginia ranks last, according to an analysis released Sept. 8 by WalletHub.
The personal finance company compared the 50 states across three dimensions: Emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and community and environment. Dimensions were evaluated across 30 metrics, ranging from career well-being to average leisure time spent per day.
WalletHub graded each metric on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing maximum happiness, and used each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and rank-order states.
The 10 happiest states:
1. Hawaii: 69.53
2. New Jersey: 67.09
3. Utah: 66.45
4. Idaho: 62.59
5. Maryland: 62.01
6. Nebraska: 61.81
7. Connecticut: 61.38
8. Minnesota: 60.91
9. California: 60.58
10. New Hampshire: 59.89
The 10 at the bottom of the list, starting with the lowest ranked:
1. West Virginia: 31.88
2. Louisiana: 34.49
3. Arkansas: 38.44
4. Alaska: 38.65
5. Kentucky: 38.84
6. Alabama: 42.80
7. New Mexico: 43.10
8. Wyoming: 43.26
9. Oregon: 43.52
10. Tennessee: 43.63
