Happiest States of 2011: The List

A survey called the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index reveals which states are happiest. The index includes questions about six types of well-being, including overall evaluation of their lives, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors (such as whether a person smokes or exercises), and job satisfaction.
Click here to learn more about the survey and what it means. Also see 7 Things That Will Make You Happy.
Here are the 50 U.S. states in order of their well-being scores, which are out of 100 points.
- Hawaii: 70.2
- North Dakota: 70.0
- Minnesota: 69.2
- Utah: 69.0
- Alaska: 69.0
- Colorado: 68.4
- Kansas: 68.4
- Nebraska: 68.3
- New Hampshire: 68.2
- Montana: 68.0
- South Dakota: 67.8
- Vermont: 67.7
- Maryland: 67.6
- Virginia: 67.4
- Iowa: 67.4
- Massachusetts: 67.4
- California: 67.3
- Washington: 67.3
- Connecticut: 67.2
- Oregon: 67.1
- Wyoming: 66.9
- Wisconsin: 66.9
- Idaho: 66.9
- New Mexico: 66.8
- Maine: 66.7
- Arizona: 66.6
- Texas: 66.4
- Georgia: 66.3
- New Jersey: 66.2
- North Carolina: 66.1
- Pennsylvania: 66.0
- Illinois: 65.9
- South Carolina: 65.7
- New York: 65.7
- Rhode Island: 65.6
- Louisiana: 65.5
- Michigan: 65.3
- Oklahoma: 65.1
- Indiana: 65.1
- Nevada: 65.0
- Tennessee: 65.0
- Florida: 64.9
- Missouri: 64.8
- Arkansas: 64.7
- Alabama: 64.6
- Ohio: 64.5
- Delaware: 64.2
- Mississippi: 63.4
- Kentucky: 63.3
- West Virginia: 62.3
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Jeanna served as editor-in-chief of Live Science. Previously, she was an assistant editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Jeanna has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland, and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.