2014′s most and least happy states in Americal

Indiana is the 10th least happy state

By Richie Bernardo

financial writer for WalletHub

The question of whether money can buy happiness has continually baffled humanity. The ideal, morally principled response might be “no.” But money can indeed buy happiness — that is, up to a certain dollar amount.

A comprehensive study of the topic suggests that life satisfaction, one of the two main components of happiness besides emotional well-being, increases as income rises but only up to $75,000. Beyond that, money makes little difference in a person’s overall happiness.

Happiness in Indiana (1=Best; 25=Avg.) 
  • 50th – Satisfaction Index
  • 27th – Hedonometer Score
  • 43rd – Physical Health Index
  • 33rd – Depression Rate
  • 39th – Life Expectancy
  • 21st – Income Level
  • 21st – Work Hours
  • 19th – Commute Time
  • 47th – Income Growth Rate
  • 31st – Divorce Rate

Reinforcing those findings are the annual results of a Gallup-Healthways poll, which measures well-being around the world. According to the pollsters, “there was a 10-percentage-point gap globally between the highest and lowest income brackets.” But income isn’t the only determinant of personal happiness. Apart from financial security, a pleasant state also depends on one’s mental and physical health, job situation, experience of positive feelings, environment, social connections and general outlook on life.

WalletHub took all of these elements into consideration to identify which states are home to the happiest Americans. We did so by analyzing the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 26 key metrics, ranging from emotional health to income levels to sports participation rates. The results of our study, as well as additional insight from experts and a detailed methodology, can be found below.

Overall Rank State Emotional & Physical Well-Being Rank Work Rank Community, Environment & Recreational Activities Rank
1 Utah 3 1 2
2 Minnesota 1 3 4
3 North Dakota 10 6 3
4 Colorado 2 9 10
5 Nebraska 13 4 6
6 Wyoming 11 5 5
7 Iowa 14 2 8
8 Hawaii 4 32 1
9 South Dakota 12 10 12
10 Idaho 15 14 7
11 Kansas 16 11 15
12 Alaska 7 26 16
13 District of Columbia 5 17 29
14 California 8 23 22
15 Maryland 17 12 20
16 Massachusetts 18 20 10
17 Washington 20 21 9
18 Texas 30 7 22
19 New Hampshire 9 37 17
20 Montana 23 13 24
21 Virginia 25 18 13
22 Wisconsin 19 25 20
23 Vermont 6 42 26
24 New Jersey 21 38 14
25 Illinois 27 29 19
26 Connecticut 22 44 18
27 Delaware 29 19 32
28 New York 32 36 25
29 Oregon 26 46 30
30 New Mexico 28 27 49
31 Arizona 24 41 47
32 Nevada 31 35 43
33 Pennsylvania 38 22 27
34 Georgia 33 34 41
35 Maine 34 43 34
36 Florida 35 40 44
37 North Carolina 36 39 31
38 Missouri 43 15 38
39 Louisiana 40 16 48
40 South Carolina 39 28 36
41 Oklahoma 48 8 37
42 Indiana 44 31 28
43 Michigan 40 30 39
44 Ohio 45 24 33
45 Rhode Island 37 49 35
46 Tennessee 46 48 44
47 Kentucky 50 33 40
48 Arkansas 47 45 50
49 Mississippi 42 51 51
50 Alabama 49 47 42
51 West Virginia 51 50

46

Most_Least_Happy_States_America