To determine the nation’s happiest states, analysts compared states across three dimensions — emotional and physical well-being; work environment; and community and environment — using 30 metrics. Metrics ranged from the depression rate and the share of adults feeling productive to income growth and each state’s unemployment rate. Read more about the methodology here.
Here are the 10 happiest states, according to the analysis:
1. Hawaii
2. Maryland
3. Minnesota
4. Utah
5. New Jersey
6. Idaho
7. California
8. Illinois
9. Nebraska
10. Connecticut
Here are the 10 unhappiest states, according to the analysis:
1. West Virginia
2. Louisiana
3. Arkansas
4. Kentucky
5. Alabama
6. Mississippi
7. Oklahoma
8. Tennessee
9. New Mexico
10. Missouri
