If moving to Finland, the happiest country in the world, isn't an option, you might want to consider some locations right here in the U.S.
WalletHub recently released its annual ranking of the happiest states in America. To determine where Americans are the happiest, the personal finance website compared the 50 states across three key dimensions:
- Emotional and physical well-being
- Work environment
- Community and environment
Utah is the happiest state in America
Utah ranks as the No. 1 happiest state in the U.S. with an overall score of 69.79 out of 100.
Though it came in 16th place for emotional and physical well-being, Utah took the top spots both for work environment and community and environment.
According to the WalletHub report, Utah had the highest volunteer rate, with 40.7%, 2.6 times higher than Florida, with the lowest volunteer rate.
Utah also had the lowest separation and divorce rate in the country.
The state has been one of the fastest-growing states since 2000, according to The Atlantic. The 2020 U.S. census showed it had the fastest population growth in the U.S. since 2010. That rapid growth is partly due to Utah's becoming a rising star in the tech industry with companies like Artic Wolf and Adobe.
Top 10 happiest states in America
- Utah
- Hawaii
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- New Jersey
- Connecticut
- California
- Florida
- Idaho
- Nebraska
Hawaii is the No. 2 happiest state in the U.S. and ranked the highest for emotional and physical well-being. It also has the lowest rate of adult depression and the fourth-lowest divorce rate.
And though Hawaii ranked high in the above categories, it placed 25th for work environment and 30th in community and environment.
It is also home to the capital city of Honolulu, which ranked as the second most expensive city in the U.S. to be happy in, according to a S Money 2023 study.
Honolulu is one of the most visited cities in the U.S., according to the World Atlas.
Maryland rounds out the top three.
It had a total score of 64.62 and ranked eighth for emotional and physical well-being, fourth for work environment, and fifth for community and environment.
Maryland is also home to the capital city of Annapolis which is also known as the world's sailing capital, according to the state government.
Annapolis is also home to the Maryland State House, the oldest state capital still in continuous legislative use.
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