What to Know
- Although many different elements contribute to one's overall happiness, where you live can also have an impact on how happy you are.
- With this in mind, WalletHub looked at the 50 states across 30 key metrics -- from the depression rate to the feeling of productivity to income and unemployment -- to determine which state is the happiest and least happiest.
- It turns out that the tri-state area falls among the top 20 happiest states -- with New Jersey breaking the top 5, according to the study.
What is happiness?
Although many different elements contribute to one's overall happiness, where you live can also have an impact on how happy you are.
With this in mind, WalletHub looked at the 50 states across 30 key metrics -- from the depression rate to the feeling of productivity to income and unemployment -- to determine which state is the happiest and least happiest of 2023.
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It turns out that the tri-state area falls among the top 20 happiest states -- with New Jersey breaking the top 5, according to the study.
New Jersey's overall ranking is due in part to how well it performed in three different categories: emotional and physical well-being (No. 3), work environment (No. 14) and community and environment (No. 29).
New Jersey also performed well in specific key metrics, which contributed to its overall ranking. The Garden State came in as having the lowest suicide rate in the country and the third lowest divorce rate. However, it did not fare well when it comes to long-term unemployment having one of the highest in the country.
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Coming in right after New Jersey, Connecticut placed at No. 6 overall as the happiest state in the country, thanks in part to being No. 6 in the emotional and physical well-being category, No. 32 in the work environment category and No. 8 in the community and environment category.
When it comes to certain key metrics, Connecticut came in as having the 5th lowest suicide rate in the country and the 5th fewest mean work hours among its residents.
However, the state did not perform as great in other key metrics having the 4th lowest income growth and the 5th highest long-term unemployment rate.
Although a respectable ranking, out of the tri-state area, New York was the state that fared the worst coming in at No. 16 overall as the happiest state with a No. 7 ranking in the individual category emotional and physical well-being and No. 39 for both the work environment, as well as the community and environment.
So, which state came in as the happiest? That would be Utah. The stellar outcome is due to the state coming in at No. 1 in both the work environment, as well as the community and environment individual categories.
On the other end of the spectrum is West Virginia which came in as the least happiest state in the country.
To learn about the metrics used or see the complete list, click here.
