Even though it feels like just yesterday we were counting down to the start of 2019 on New Year's Eve, the year is actually almost over. Thanks to WalletHub.com, we know which states were the happiest in 2019. WalletHub looked to "happiness" research to figure out which state was the happiest in America, finding environmental factors, such as average amount of work hours, unemployment rates, divorce rates and more, help determine happiness and satisfaction in life.
To determine where Americans exhibit the best combination of these factors, WalletHub examined all 50 states across 31 key metrics, ranging from depression rate to sports participation rate to income growth. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing maximum happiness. WalletHub then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order their sample.
Here's the full list, starting with the happiest state:
- Hawaii
- Utah
- Minnesota
- California
- New Jersey
- Idaho
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- Connecticut
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- Nevada
- Virginia
- New York
- Delaware
- Georgia
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Vermont
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Texas
- Illinois
- Wisconsin
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Florida
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Montana
- Kansas
- Rhode Island
- Wyoming
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Maine
- Oregon
- New Mexico
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- West Virginia
Here are some other interesting findings from WalletHub's study:
- Hawaii has the lowest share of adult depression.
- South Dakota has the highest adequate-sleep rate.
- Washington has the highest sports participation rate.
- Utah has the fewest average work hours per week, the lowest divorce rate and the highest volunteer rate.
- North Dakota has the lowest long-term unemployment rates and the highest income growth.
- Minnesota is considered to be the safest state.
Where does your home state fall on this list?
Photo: Getty