- WalletHub released its rankings for the happiest states in the US.
- The rankings were primarily based on three factors: emotional and physical wellbeing, work environment, and community and environment.
- Dozens of other metrics were considered, including safety, income growth, sports participation, and amount of work hours.
- Unsurprisingly, Hawaii notched the top spot.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Feeling especially happy today? Maybe it’s because you live in one of the happiest states in America.
Personal finance website Wallethub released its rankings for the happiest states in the US, basing its findings on three main factors: emotional and physical wellbeing, work environment, and community and environment.
To determine those three, they used 31 metrics, such as the rate of adult depression, the amount of average volunteer hours, average work hours, divorce rates, income growth, and safety to determine “maximum happiness.”
Keep scrolling to see if your state cracked the top 20.
20. Vermont
Vermont was ranked the second-safest state, only behind Minnesota.
19. Colorado
Colorado was high-ranking across the board, coming in second for highest income growth, highest sports participation rate, highest adequate-sleep rate, and fourth overall for work environment.
18. Arizona
Arizona came in seventh for work environment, but on the lower side of community and environment at No. 31.
17. Georgia
Georgia was ranked fifth for lowest share of adult depression.
16. Delaware
Though citizens of Delaware are happier than average, the state was fourth from the bottom for income growth.
15. New York
New York state had the lowest suicide rate of all 50 states at 8 per 100,000 people, but also came in 47th place for volunteer rate.
14. Virginia
Virginia ranked at No. 13 for emotional and physical wellbeing, but 14th overall.
13. Nevada
Nevada ranked third for lowest share of adult depression, but, unsurprisingly, the marriage capital of the US also has the highest divorce rate of all 50 states.
12. North Dakota
North Dakota has the lowest long-term unemployment rate in the country, and the highest income growth - it's four times higher than last place state, New Mexico.
11. Iowa
Iowa cracked the top 10 for both work environment and community and environment.
10. Connecticut
Connecticut is the fifth-safest state in the union, and ranked sixth overall for emotional and physical wellbeing.
9. Nebraska
Nebraska has the fourth-lowest long-term unemployment rate in the US.
8. Maryland
Maryland has the third-lowest suicide rate in the US, and ranked at No. 5 for emotional and physical wellbeing.
7. Massachusetts
Massachusetts came in fourth for fewest work hours, which might explain why the state was No. 3 for work environment.
6. Idaho
Idaho was ranked No. 1 for community and environment, which includes metrics such as the volunteer rate, weather, leisure time per day, divorce rate, and safety.
5. New Jersey
New Jersey has the second-lowest share of adult depression, as well as the second-lowest suicide rate, and the fourth-lowest divorce rate.
4. California
California is tied for fifth with Michigan for fewest work hours, but came in 46th for volunteer rate.
3. Minnesota
Minnesota had the second-highest volunteer rate, and the third-lowest divorce rate. Per Wallethub, it's the safest state in the nation, and 50x safer than Mississippi, which came in last place for this metric.
2. Utah
Utah had the overall best work environment ranking, which includes metrics such as work hours, commute time, unemployment rate, job security, and job satisfaction, among others.
It had the fewest average work hours, the highest volunteer rate (twice as much as Florida, which scored last place for this metric), the lowest divorce rate (twice as much as Nevada), and is the fourth-safest state per Wallethub.
1. Hawaii
Unsurprisingly, this tropical paradise boasts the happiest residents. Hawaii has the lowest share of adult depression, the fifth-highest income growth, the fifth-lowest divorce rate, and is No. 1 for emotional and physical wellbeing (which includes metrics such as career wellbeing, physical health, alcohol use, sleep, and life expectancy). That said, it came in dead last in terms of adequate sleep rate.