REVEALED: The UNHAPPIEST states in the US..

Kentucky is the Least Happy State in the US   

• Kentucky ranks as the least happy state in the US based on factors such as health, work-life balance and safety, according to a new study 
• West Virginia is the second saddest state and Nevada is the third 
• North Dakota ranks as the happiest state in the US   

A new study has revealed Kentucky is the least happy state in the US.   

The research by sleep experts Amerisleep analyzed 17 factors that contribute towards happiness, such as health, income, work-life balance and environment, to find the happiest state in America.   

Kentucky ranked the least happy out of all 50 states after performing poorly in a number of different factors, including scoring highly for insufficient sleep, number of health clubs to people and high average working hours. These factors paint a picture that Kentucky does not have a sufficient work-life balance and Kentucky ranks as the state with the fifth-highest working hours.  

West Virginia comes in as the second saddest state in the US. It ranks the lowest out of the fifty American states for healthcare and third lowest for work-life balance. West Virginia has the highest population suffering from insufficient sleep as well as depression, compared with all other states. 

Tennessee is the third saddest state in America with the third-largest population with depression and fifth-highest insufficient sleep rating. Overall, Tennessee ranks as the second-worst state for health, just behind West Virginia. 

Nevada ranks as the fourth saddest state, having the highest divorce and unemployment rate of all fifty states. Overall, Nevada receives the third-lowest safest ranking for safety of all fifty states. 

The top three happiest states are North Dakota in first place, Vermont in second, and Nebraska in third.   

April Mayer from Amerisleep commented on the findings, “This data paints a fascinating picture of happiness across the US. The study analyzed a large array of factors, from sleep levels and access to healthcare to average commute time and house size. The states at the top of the list offer a great combination of the things that make people happy.”  

The key factors that contribute towards happiness:  

Health ranks as US citizens’ most important contributor towards happiness, according to the OECD Better Life Index, and the study included four separate factors within the category – depression rate, sleep, suicide numbers and number of hospitals per capita.  

Education is the second most important element for happiness with Oklahoma coming in last in this ranking. It is followed by Texas and Florida which score extremely low in this category while Vermont comes out on top for this. 

Work-Life Balance is also highly valued by Americans, with the study revealing Nebraska as the best place to achieve it. This category factored in health clubs per capita, working hours, volunteer rate, unemployment rate, commute time and divorce rates. Nevada places 50th on the list for achieving a good balance between career and home life.  

Environment is fourth on the list of things that make people happy in America, and New York ranks in last place. California takes the top spot in the category, which assesses the percentage of trees covering state, open spaces and beauty and national parks. Rhode Island comes in second and Oregon third. 

Safety is ranked as the fifth most important consideration for happiness in the US. The state that has the lowest safety score is North Carolina while Alaska, followed by Mississippi, comes in as the safest.   

Housing is the sixth most important contributor to happiness, and sees Hawaii at the bottom of the pile, with the smallest average housing size (sq. ft) out of all the states, while Utah ranks first for housing size.   

Income is the seventh and final happiness factor on the list, New Hampshire has had the lowest income growth out of all US states while North Dakota comes in first again, thanks to its income growth percentage over the last year. 

The study was conducted by Amerisleep, an award-winning producer of mattresses, beds, and sleep accessories.   

 

The 10 Least Happy States in the US
Rank	State	Score
1	Kentucky	45.00
2	West Virginia	45.77
3	Tennessee	46.01
4	Nevada	46.04
5	Ohio	47.32
6	Pennsylvania	47.40
7	Michigan	48.51
8	Illinois	48.61
9	Missouri	49.02
10	Washington	49.17

  

The Top 10 Happiest States in the US
Rank	State	Score
1	North Dakota	70.71
2	Vermont	68.30
3	Nebraska	62.38
4	South Dakota	61.15
5	California	60.91
6	Rhode Island	58.09
7	Iowa	57.76
8	Montana	57.19
9	Oregon	56.70
10	Utah	56.64