The 5 happiest states in America — and the 5 least happy

New Mexico comes in at 46th on the happiness rankings. The Land of Enchantment placed in the bottom five spots for WalletHub’s emotional & physical well-being and work environment rankings, although it placed in the middle of the road for the community and environment category.

New Mexico has the nation’s fourth-highest rate of suicide, according to WalletHub, behind Wyoming, Alaska, and Montana. The state’s suicide rate was 24.7 per 100,000 residents in 2022, and its adjusted suicide rate was 74% higher than the U.S. as a whole, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

New Mexico also has some of the nation’s lowest volunteer rate, tied with Hawaii for 45th place. Plus, it has the highest divorce rate in the U.S., which is twice as high as the state with the lowest rate of divorce, Utah.

Delaware is one of the happiest states in the U.S., although it technically shares fifth place with Minnesota, according to WalletHub’s scores.

The Diamond State is ranked fourth for community and environment, 27th for work environment, and tenth for emotional and physical well-being, according to WalletHub.

Real median household income in Delaware was $80,750 in 2022, up compared to the nation’s overall $74,580 real median household income. However, 38% of the state’s residents are living below the poverty line, according to Delaware Public Media, as basic costs to live and work for a family of four has increased.

Tennessee is another of the least happy states, reflecting its low score for emotional and physical well-being, according to WalletHub’s rankings.

The state is has the highest share of adults with depression, according to the firm, with twice as many depressed adults as Hawaii, the state with the lowest share. According to KFF, 37.3% of adults in Tennessee reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder between February 1, 2023, and February 13, 2023.

The Volunteer State also placed 24th for WalletHub’s work environment ranking and 34th for community and environment.

Utah took a blow in 2024's rankings, falling three spots to fourth-happiest state in the union, although it took first place for WalletHub’s work environment and community and environment rankings.

Utah was ranked in fourth place for safety and second for sports participation rate. Residents also worked the fewest hours, beating out Vermont and Rhode Island, and the Beehive State tied with North Carolina in third for lowest long-term unemployment rate.

Utah, home to the Church of Latter-Day Saints, has the lowest rates of divorce in the U.S., as well as the highest rate of volunteers. Utah is also the most independent state in the U.S., according to an earlier WalletHub study, which cited the state’s low unemployment rate and high median income of almost $84,000 also contributed to its ranking.

West Virginia is the third least happy state in the U.S. The state has WalletHub’s worst score for work environment and one of the worst scores for emotional and physical well-being of residents. However, its community and environmental ranking is quite high, at seventh place overall.

Residents of The Mountain State have the second-lowest adequate sleep rate and some of the worst rates of sports participation. The state’s poverty rate has fallen in past decades; still, 278,734 people, or 16.8 percent of the state, were living below the poverty threshold for a family of four, according to the 2020 census.

According to Mountain State Spotlight, 11 of West Virginia’s 55 countries are classified as “in persistent poverty.” The poorest county, McDowell, has a median household income $27,682 a year, more than 40% below the state median income.

For a state that gets a lot of hate, New Jersey is pretty darn happy. The Garden State has the second-lowest share of adult residents with depression, the lowest suicide rate, and the third-lowest share of divorces, at around 17%.

New Jersey also has the third-highest share of households earning over $75,000 per year, sixth-lowest food insecurity rate, and ninth-lowest share of people who get anxious about their personal finances. However, it is the state with the worst long-term unemployment rate, according to WalletHub.

Arkansas is WalletHub’s runner-up for the most unhappy states in the U.S.

The state formerly known as the Opportunity State was ranked in last place for physical and emotional well-being, as well as in the bottom 10 for the work environment category. It did land squarely in the middle for community and environment, which is based on weather conditions, leisure time, and volunteer rate, among other things.

Arkansas has the fourth-highest share of residents with adult depression and is tied with Ohio for fifth-lowest rate of adequate sleep. The Natural State also has the second-lowest share of residents engaging in sports, and is the third-least safe state. According to SafeHome.org, which cites FBI data, it ranks third for violent crime and sixth in the nation for property crime.

Maryland is the runner-up for the happiest state in the union, owing largely to its low unemployment rate and high percentage of households earning more than $75,000 annually, WalletHub reports.

Among other things, WalletHub cites residents’ motivation to achieve their goals and relatively low habit of posting about work-related stress on social media. The Old Line State also has the fourth-lowest suicide rate in the country, second-lowest share of people who report having traumatic events during their childhood, and the third-highest share of people who say they have supportive relationships.

According to WalletHub, Louisiana is the most unhappy state in the union, taking second-to-last place for the emotional and physical well-being and work environment categories.

The Bayou State has one of the worst rates of residents getting adequate sleep and some of the worst work hours of any state. Residents also rank in third for the highest rate of divorce, behind just Nevada and New Mexico. Louisiana is also ranked as the most unsafe state, based on a prior WalletHub study that examined a number of factors, including both personal and financial safety.

Louisianans have the highest credit card debt burden, with an average credit card balance of $4,796, according to Bankrate. The state is home to the fourth-lowest average income, $6,598 monthly. Just 43% of Louisianans feel positively about the quality of life in their state, according to a poll commissioned by The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate earlier this year.

Hawaii is officially the happiest state in the U.S., retaking its crown from Utah, which took first place last year.

“Hawaii is the happiest state, living up to its reputation as an island paradise, with residents reporting the highest levels of life satisfaction in the nation and the lowest depression rate,” according to WalletHub.

Plus, 86% of Hawaiians report that they are in good or better health, making the state the second-best for physical health. The Aloha State took first place in the report’s economic and physical well-being rankings. State residents have the longest life expectancy in the U.S., according to the report, as well as some of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation.

Hawaii also has the second-highest share of households with an annual income of more than $75,000, although it’s safe to bet that not all of those households are native to the state. Each year, 15,000 native Hawaiians leave the state for the mainland U.S. because of rising prices in the area, driven up because of an influx of new residents, tourism, and redevelopment, CBS News reported last year.

Some of the richest people in the world have moved to Hawaii — or, in the case of Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison, have purchased their own island. Thirty-seven billionaires —including Oprah Winfrey, Meta (META) co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Ellison, and Malaysian businessman Quek Leng Chan — own 5.3% of Hawaii’s land between them, according to Forbes. Salesforce’s Marc Benioff has also been buying up large tracts of land in Hawaii, although most of that has been donated, a spokesperson told Quartz in March.