Happiest States of 2009: The List

A survey called the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index reveals which states were happiest in 2009. The index included 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 Top 5 Keys to Happiness.

Here are the 50 U.S. states in order of their well-being scores from 2009, which are out of 100 points, with the 2008 scores in (parentheses).

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1. Hawaii: 70.2 (68.2)
2. Utah: 68.3 (69.2)
3. Montana: 68.3 (66.7)
4. Minnesota: 67.8 (67.3)
5. Iowa: 67.6 (65.6)
6. Vermont: 67.4 (66.6)
7. Colorado: 67.3 (67.3) 
8. Alaska: 67.3 (66.2)
9. North Dakota: 67.3 (65.5)
10. Kansas: 67.2 (66.1)
11. Idaho: 67.1 (66.8)
12. Virginia: 67.0 (66.5)
13. New Hampshire: 66.9 (66.7)
14. Maryland: 66.8 (67.1)
15. Washington: 66.8 (67.1)
16. Maine: 66.7 (65.5)
17. Wyoming: 66.7 (68.0)
18. Massachusetts: 66.6 (67.0)
19. California: 66.5 (67.0)
20. South Dakota: 66.5 (64.3)
21. Arizona: 66.4 (66.8)
22. Connecticut: 66.3 (66.3) 
23. Nebraska: 66.3 (66.4)
24. Texas: 66.2 (66.1)
25. Georgia: 66.1 (66.0)
26. Oregon: 66.0 (66.3)
27. Wisconsin: 66.0 (65.9)
28. Illinois: 65.8 (65.2)
29. New Jersey: 65.6 (65.8)
30. Pennsylvania: 65.4 (64.9)
31. New Mexico: 65.3 (66.3)
32. New York: 65.0 (64.7)
33. Michigan: 64.9 (64)
34. Missouri: 64.8 (63.8)
35. Florida: 64.8 (65.3)
36. South Carolina: 64.9 (65.7)
37. North Carolina: 65.1 (64.8)
38. Delaware: 64.7 (64.7)
39. Louisiana: 64.2 (64.2)
40. Oklahoma: 64.2 (64)
41. Rhode Island: 64.2 (64.6)
42. Mississippi: 64.0 (61.9)
43. Tennessee: 64.0 (64.0)
44. Alabama: 63.9 (64.9)
45. Indiana: 63.9 (63.3)
46. Nevada: 63.8 (64.5)
47. Ohio: 63.6 (62.8)
48. Arkansas: 62.8 (62.9)
49. Kentucky: 62.3 (61.4)
50. West Virginia: 60.5 (61.2)

The Story - Happiest States: Hawaii Moves into First Place

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