Happiness may seem like a hard thing to measure but every year there are dozens of reports on where the happiest people in American live. The latest comes from a list that was recently released by MSN. They ranked America’s happiest (and most miserable) states and you’ll probably be interested to know where Idaho ended up. In fact, Idaho made it pretty high up on the list of the happiest states. Of course, this isn’t news to us. How could you not be absolutely ecstatic when you live in such a beautiful state? However, you’ll want to keep reading to find out exactly what made Idaho rank so high in comparison to other states.
A list of America's Happiest (And Most Miserable) States was just released by MSN and Idaho's ranking may come as a surprise to you. All in all, the Gem State came in as the 8th happiest state in the country. That's definitely not too shabby, if you ask us.
But what exactly does this ranking mean? And how were the rankings decided? They were actually decided based off of a "Well-Being Index" that was compiled by Gallup-Sharecare. This index consists of five categories: sense of purpose, social relationships, financial security, relationship to community, and physical health.
The index is based on interviews with over 160,000 adults across the nation and was intended to capture how people feel about their daily lives. Results varied greatly across the nation, but in general the Northeast, West, and Upper Midwest were found to enjoy the highest levels of happiness. The South and Rust Belt produced the lowest well-being scores.
Out of the 50 states, Idaho was ranked as the 8th happiest state right behind New Hampshire (South Dakota was ranked #1). The categories that we scored particularly high in include "sense of purpose" and "relationship to community".
It's estimated that 76.7% of Idahoans are proud of their community— the largest portion of any state! Additionally, 74.6% residents believe Idaho is perfect for them and 85.6% feel safe and secure in their community. The fact that Idaho has the 6th lowest crime rate in the nation may have something do with our large sense of community pride.
In general, the index also found that Idahoans have a stronger sense of financial security, physical health, and sense of purpose than the majority of states. This may not seem like news to us but it's nice to have these facts laid out for us regardless.
