Hawaii tops WalletHub’s happiest states ranking
Hawaii topped a WalletHub ranking of the happiest states in the U.S., followed by New Jersey, Utah, Idaho and Maryland. The personal finance website compared states across 30 metrics in three categories to produce the list.
WalletHub measured emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and overall community and environment, then ranked states by their average scores across weighted groups within those categories.
“While the adage that money can’t buy happiness has a lot of truth to it, having enough money to live comfortably is still essential,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “But anything beyond that won’t necessarily enhance happiness as much as having fulfilling hobbies, relationships and opportunities for personal growth.”
Lupo said the happiest states tend to offer an “above-average quality of life in a wide variety of areas.” Hawaii, described as a tropical “island paradise,” ranked highest in life satisfaction and had the second-lowest rates of depression and financial anxiety.
West Virginia landed at the bottom of the list, followed by Louisiana, Arkansas, Alaska and Kentucky. Those states tended to rank near the bottom in depression, income growth and average work hours. West Virginia had double the depression rate of New Jersey, which ranked lowest in that category.
