How Happy is Texas? What Role Does Location Play in Happiness?

Friends, fitness, family, and how much money we take home can generally define how happy a person is. Or can it? Wallet Hub recently conducted a study to determine how big of a factor location is in creating happiness.

The study looked at all 50 states across 28 indicators to determine which state was the happiest overall. Some of the indicators included financial growth, sports participation, and rate of depression. Let’s take a look at the results and see how Texas stacked up.

Photo: Flickr/Jeff P

Minnesota received the number one overall ranking. With high marks in the Emotional Well-Being, Work Environment, and Community and Environment categories, The Land of A Thousand Lakes was hard to beat. Utah was ranked number two and boasted number one rankings in both the Work Environment and Community and Environment categories. Rounding out the top five were: Hawaii (ranked number three), California (number four) and Nebraska (number five).

West Virginia received the lowest overall ranking, being near the bottom in every statistical category. It was followed by Oklahoma (ranked at 49), Louisiana (48), Alabama (47) and Arkansas (at number 46). Similarly, all of these states had low rankings in most categories, particularly in the Work Environment category.

Photo: Flickr/H. Michael Karshis

How did Texas fare? Well, Texas ranked right in the middle of the pack. At number 28 overall, The Lone Star State certainly has some room for improvement but is doing some things well. One highlight was Texas’ 14th overall ranking in the Emotional and Physical Well-Being category.

Some other points of interest from the survey are as follows:

• Utah and Oregon had the fewest number of regular work hours per week.
• Louisiana and Texas were both ranked in the top five for most regular work hours per week.
• North Dakota boasted the highest income growth rate.
• Nevada and Arizona had the lowest overall income growth rates.
• Vermont claimed the best ranking for safety.
• Mississippi rated as the least safe state according to the study.