Utah Is USA’s Happiest State (And It’s Not Even Close)

Living in Utah has many advantages -- five National Parks, incredible outdoor opportunities, conservative lifestyle, low crime rate -- so the new study just released by the survey folks at WalletHub.com comes as no surprise.

Utah is America's happiest state.

And the score is not particularly close. In fact, the only other state within five points of the 0-75 score is Hawaii and it's, well, Hawaii.

Utah received a score of 69.79, with Hawaii at 66.42. No other state was within five points of the Beehive State.

The score was comprised of 30 metrics, with 10 key areas: adult depression rate, adequate sleep rate, sports participation rate, suicide rate, mean work hours, long-term unemployment rate, income growth, volunteer rate, divorce rate and safety rating.

Utah was No. 1 in mean work hours, volunteer rate and divorce rate and finished in the top five in safety and sports participation.

From the WalletHub study:

Happiness comes from a combination of internal and external factors. We can influence it somewhat by approaching situations positively or choosing to spend time with people we love, doing activities we enjoy. It’s harder to be happy in some years than in others, though. For example, in 2023, high inflation remains a threat to Americans’ mental health. In fact, more than 75% of Americans who have experienced price increases where they live report feeling “very” or “moderately” stressed. In addition, only 50% of Americans feel “very satisfied” with the way their personal life is going.

Sharon Sassler from Cornell University summed it up well: "From my perspective as a sociologist, the key ingredients to a happy life are having a sense of meaning, a community with whom one can share that sense of purpose, a chance to grow and learn and experience new challenges (mastering new things should be a life-long endeavor, not one limited to school-aged people), and adequate resources (earnings or wealth) to enable one to live without worrying about an emergency."

Utah Is USA's Happiest State (And It's Not Even Close)If you're looking for a place, like Bobby McFerrin famously sang, to "Don't worry, be happy," Utah is it.