The happiest states in the US, ranked

New Jersey was ranked among the happiest states in America. Your level of happiness can be affected by external factors, such as work and community. A WalletHub study examined three different categories to determine which states are happiest. Here are the 50 states, ranked from the least to the most happy. Happiness may come from within, but external factors can still play a role in how happy you feel. Even if you're a glass-half-full kind of person, factors like financial security, access to healthcare, and community can also impact your well-being. A recent WalletHub study ranked all 50 states based on metrics that measure residents' happiness. All states were compared across three categories: emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and community and environment. These dimensions were broken down into 30 metrics, graded on a 100-point scale to create a happiness score. The most heavily weighted category was emotional and physical well-being, which included metrics such as career well-being, physical health, the share of adults with depression, and life expectancy. Work environment metrics included the number of work hours and the share of households earning annual incomes above $75,000. For community and environment, the metrics included ideal weather, average daily leisure time, and safety. WalletHub's analysis used data from sources such as the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Gallup. Here are the 50 states, ranked from least to most happy. 50. West Virginia Charleston, West Virginia. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 50 Work environment rank: 50 Community and environment rank: 40 49. Louisiana Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 49 Work environment rank: 49 Community and environment rank: 38 48. Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 47 Work environment rank: 47 Community and environment rank: 30 47. Alaska Juneau, Alaska. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 38 Work environment rank: 44 Community and environment rank: 50 46. Kentucky Frankfort, Kentucky. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 48 Work environment rank: 41 Community and environment rank: 25 45. Alabama Montgomery, Alabama. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 45 Work environment rank: 35 Community and environment rank: 36 44. New Mexico Santa Fe, New Mexico. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 36 Work environment rank: 48 Community and environment rank: 37 43. Wyoming Cheyenne, Wyoming. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 40 Work environment rank: 42 Community and environment rank: 35 42. Oregon Salem, Oregon. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 44 Work environment rank: 38 Community and environment rank: 29 41. Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 41 Work environment rank: 14 Community and environment rank: 44 40. Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 46 Work environment rank: 43 Community and environment rank: 4 39. Ohio Columbus, Ohio. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 39 Work environment rank: 32 Community and environment rank: 26 38. Michigan Lansing, Michigan. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 32 Work environment rank: 45 Community and environment rank: 28 37. Mississippi Jackson, Mississippi. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 35 Work environment rank: 46 Community and environment rank: 12 36. Colorado Denver, Colorado. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 28 Work environment rank: 23 Community and environment rank: 49 35. Texas Austin, Texas. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 24 Work environment rank: 30 Community and environment rank: 46 34. Maine Augusta, Maine. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 42 Work environment rank: 10 Community and environment rank: 20 33. Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 34 Work environment rank: 19 Community and environment rank: 21 32. Nevada Carson City, Nevada. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 37 Work environment rank: 39 Community and environment rank: 5 31. Missouri Jefferson City, Missouri. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 33 Work environment rank: 15 Community and environment rank: 24 30. Montana Helena, Montana. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 43 Work environment rank: 7 Community and environment rank: 10 29. Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 23 Work environment rank: 26 Community and environment rank: 45 28. Delaware Dover, Delaware. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 14 Work environment rank: 28 Community and environment rank: 47 27. Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 30 Work environment rank: 18 Community and environment rank: 34 26. Illinois Springfield, Illinois. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 13 Work environment rank: 40 Community and environment rank: 42 25. Pennsylvania Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 20 Work environment rank: 37 Community and environment rank: 27 24. South Dakota Pierre, South Dakota. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 29 Work environment rank: 2 Community and environment rank: 41 23. Kansas Topeka, Kansas. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 26 Work environment rank: 12 Community and environment rank: 31 22. Vermont Montpelier, Vermont. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 31 Work environment rank: 9 Community and environment rank: 7 21. Florida Tallahassee, Florida. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 9 Work environment rank: 29 Community and environment rank: 48 20. Iowa Des Moines, Iowa. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 27 Work environment rank: 16 Community and environment rank: 16 19. Washington Olympia, Washington. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 18 Work environment rank: 25 Community and environment rank: 33 18. Georgia Atlanta, Georgia. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 21 Work environment rank: 22 Community and environment rank: 22 17. Arizona Phoenix, Arizona. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 16 Work environment rank: 33 Community and environment rank: 13 16. Virginia Richmond, Virginia. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 10 Work environment rank: 31 Community and environment rank: 32 15. South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 25 Work environment rank: 13 Community and environment rank: 3 14. North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 15 Work environment rank: 21 Community and environment rank: 15 13. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 7 Work environment rank: 17 Community and environment rank: 43 12. North Dakota Bismarck, North Dakota. Jonathan W. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 22 Work environment rank: 4 Community and environment rank: 6 11. New York Albany, New York. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 3 Work environment rank: 34 Community and environment rank: 39 10. New Hampshire Concord, New Hampshire. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 12 Work environment rank: 8 Community and environment rank: 14 9. California Sacramento, California. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 4 Work environment rank: 36 Community and environment rank: 19 8. Minnesota Saint Paul, Minnesota. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 8 Work environment rank: 11 Community and environment rank: 17 7. Connecticut Hartford, Connecticut. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 5 Work environment rank: 27 Community and environment rank: 9 6. Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 11 Work environment rank: 6 Community and environment rank: 8 5. Maryland Annapolis, Maryland. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 6 Work environment rank: 20 Community and environment rank: 11 4. Idaho Boise, Idaho. /iStockphoto Emotional and physical well-being rank: 19 Work environment rank: 3 Community and environment rank: 2 3. Utah Salt Lake City, Utah. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 17 Work environment rank: 1 Community and environment rank: 1 2. New Jersey Trenton, New Jersey. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 1 Work environment rank: 24 Community and environment rank: 23 1. Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii. Emotional and physical well-being rank: 2 Work environment rank: 5 Community and environment rank: 18 With residents reporting the second-lowest rate of depression and high levels of life satisfaction, Hawaii was ranked the happiest state. This is owing to factors such as good physical health — about 84% of adults report being in good or better health — and low unemployment rates. Read the original article on Business Insider

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