The Essentials

The Happiest States — 2020 Ranking

Honolulu, Hawaii

It’s now time to celebrate the latest in happiness research — state by state. So which are the happiest states in America?

According to the latest data from financial website WalletHub, the happiest state is Hawaii.

What about the least happy? Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma are a few of the least happy states.

So how did WalletHub come up with the rankings? It’s a combination of a state’s depression rate, economic health, and work environment.

And there are a number of surprises.

The number two and three happy states are Utah (with the fewest work hours) and Minnesota, which has the highest volunteer rate. And number on the list of happiest is New Jersey. It ranked way ahead of Vermont, Colorado and Montana. So much for the great outdoors!

Coming in at last to the happiness race is West Virginia, which has the lowest income growth.