The world isn’t always a happy place, but where you live can have an impact on your emotions. Inspired by a recent Gallup poll that found only 47% of Americans said they feel “very satisfied” with their lives, WalletHub decided to determine which states have the “happiest” residents.
“There’s not really any magic bullet for happiness. What makes someone happy changes from moment to moment and across the lifespan,” Peter D. Harms, the Frank Schultz Endowed Professor of Business at the University of Alabama, told WalletHub. “But happiness is a state and somewhat ephemeral. I think it is more important to think about what brings content or a lack of unhappiness. As a social species, all humans share the need to get ahead, get along, and have meaning in their lives. When these elements are lacking, we’re dissatisfied.”
To determine the happiest states, the financial website compared them across three key dimensions: emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and community and environment. Those dimensions were analyzed using 30 relevant metrics surrounding life satisfaction, including physical health, commute time, share of adults with alcohol-use disorder and ideal weather time.
Georgia finished at No. 20 overall, with a score of 53.84. We ranked 18th in emotional and physical well-being, 20th in work environment, and 30th in community and environment.
Outside of the main ranking, WalletHub also found Georgia was 12th in the percent of depressed adults and seventh in income growth. The state finished16th for both highest suicide rate and percent of civilian labor force unemployed for more 15 weeks.
Hawaii, Maryland and New Jersey came out as the top ranked states, with all three having ample beachfront property and warm summer weather.
“In addition to pursuing your passions, having a good work-life balance and maintaining an emotional support network, another key way to boost your happiness is living in the right place,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report. “The happiest states are those that provide above-average quality of life in a wide variety of areas, from strong state economies and high quality physical and mental health care to adequate amounts of leisure time and good weather.”
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