The Five Happiest States

Are you happy where you live? A new Gallup study has revealed that where you live might just make a difference in how happy you are. Measuring a wide range of factors through daily surveys conducted throughout 2011, including whether or not residents smiled or laughed the day before and whether or not residents felt they had adequate access to healthcare, the study revealed which states had the happiest residents.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index used the results of their well-being index to rank the happiest – and unhappiest – states in the nation.

The well-being index incorporates a number of factors and uses a 0-100 scale. The factors included in the index are:

• Work environment – based on the way an employee feels about his or her workplace, including considerations like whether or not the employee is capable of reaching his or her full potential and whether or not he or she feels like it is a trusting environment. Top ratings went to North Dakota, with Delaware lagging behind the rest.
• Life Rating – based on whether or not residents felt as if they were thriving. Alaska took top marks here, while West Virginia trailed at the back of the line.
• Emotional Health – based on whether or not the resident smiled or laughed the day before or whether or not he or she was burdened with stress. Hawaii took top honors, while Kentucky was at the bottom of the list.

Additional factors considered included physical health (best: Minnesota, worst: West Virginia); healthy behavior (best:  Hawaii, worst: Oklahoma); and access to healthcare (best: Massachusetts, worst: Mississippi). For the third year in a row, Hawaii landed at the top of the well-being index.

The five happiest states as ranked by the well-being index were:

5. Utah

4. Alaska

3. Minnesota

2. North Dakota

1. Hawaii

The five unhappiest states using the index were:

5. Ohio

4. Delaware

3. Mississippi

2. Kentucky

1. West Virginia

This survey is part of Gallup’s “State of the States” series that measures differences among the states with regard to political, economic, and well-being related measures. With problems ranging from unemployment to rising gas prices, state leaders are more challenged than ever to improve happiness and well being for residents. The survey points to several areas in which employers can play a key role: providing flexible work environments and offering proactive health services like smoking cessation programs, exercise and fitness programs, and addiction supports./a