This Is Now 2022's Happiest State In America

By  Anna Gragert
Two people in white tee shirts and blue jeans hoisting a small child in the same outside into the air outside. Photo by Agung Pandit Wiguna

If you're looking to live a happier life, perhaps a change of scenery is in your future. To help you figure out where to go to improve your state of being, WalletHub just released its study on 2022's Happiest States in America.

To figure out which U.S. states rank the highest in happiness, WalletHub looked at the following three factors: emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and community and environment. Within these factors, there were 30 metrics — such as share of adult depression, work hours, divorce rate, and safety — that were weighted differently and graded on a 100-point scale (with 100 being the most happy).

After figuring out each state's weighted average across all 30 metrics, the overall score was calculated. Once they were arranged in order, WalletHub found that these are this year's top 10 happiest states in America:

  1. Hawaii
  2. Maryland
  3. Minnesota
  4. Utah
  5. New Jersey
  6. Idaho
  7. California
  8. Illinois
  9. Nebraska
  10. Connecticut

Hawaii secured the top spot in part because it is the state with the lowest share of adult depression at 12.90%. For comparison, West Virginia has the highest share at 27.20%.

Coming in fourth place, Utah has the highest volunteer rate at 51.20%. New York, on the other hand, has the lowest at just 25%. Utah also has the lowest separation and divorce rate at 15.63%, which is 1.7 times lower than in Nevada, the state with the highest rate (25.79%).

You can see how all the states rank, along with WalletHub's key happiness findings, here.

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