2020’s Happiest States in America

With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting American's mental state everywhere in the U.S., the personal-finance website WalletHub has compiled their list of 2020's Happiest States in America.

WalletHub compared the 50 states using 32 key factors of happiness in order to determine where Americans have the highest satisfaction with life. The data ranges from the depression rate, to the positive COVID-19 testing rate, to income growth, and the unemployment rate.

Happiest States in America
1. Hawaii	11. Nebraska
2. Utah	12. South Dakota
3. Minnesota	13. Massachusetts
4. New Jersey	14. Virginia
5. Maryland	15. Washington
6. California	16. Vermont
7. North Dakota	17. New York
8. Iowa	18. Wisconsin
9. Idaho	19. Nevada
10. Connecticut	20. Arizona

Texas finds itself in position 25 on the list. Below is some additional information on how certain states ranked in various categories.

New Jersey had the lowest share of adult depression at 11.66%, which is 2.3 times lower than West Virginia, who had the highest at 27.25%
Both New York and New Jersey had the fewest suicides per 100,000 residents at 8, which is 3.1 times fewer than Wyoming at 25.
North Dakota had the lowest long-term unemployment rate at 13.1%, which is 3.4 times lower than New Mexico who had the highest at 44.9%.

WalletHub includes a full breakdown of how each state ranked in various categories, as well as a Q&A with a panel of experts.

Read the full story on 2020's Happiest States in America, as well as a YouTube video summarizing the study.