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This list was compiled by the CDC. The results are based on an examination of two data sets, one that included personal reports of happiness for 1.3 million people surveyed, and the other that included objective measures such as how crowded that state is, air quality, home prices and other factors known to impact quality of life.
Here's how the states and DC ranked according to their level of "happiness":
1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine
11. Alaska
12. North Carolina
13. Wyoming
14. Idaho
15. South Dakota
16. Texas
17. Arkansas
18. Vermont
19. Georgia
20. Oklahoma
21. Colorado
22. Delaware
23. Utah
24. New Mexico
25. North Dakota
26. Minnesota
27. New Hampshire
28. Virginia
29. Wisconsin
30. Oregon
31. Iowa
32. Kansas
33. Nebraska
34. West Virginia
35. Kentucky
36. Washington
37. District of Columbia
38. Missouri
39. Nevada
40. Maryland
41. Pennsylvania
42. Rhode Island
43. Massachusetts
44. Ohio
45. Illinois
46. California
47. Indiana
48. Michigan
49. New Jersey
50. Connecticut
51. New York
This list was compiled by the CDC. The results are based on an examination of two data sets, one that included personal reports of happiness for 1.3 million people surveyed, and the other that included objective measures such as how crowded that state is, air quality, home prices and other factors known to impact quality of life.
Here's how the states and DC ranked according to their level of "happiness":
1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine
11. Alaska
12. North Carolina
13. Wyoming
14. Idaho
15. South Dakota
16. Texas
17. Arkansas
18. Vermont
19. Georgia
20. Oklahoma
21. Colorado
22. Delaware
23. Utah
24. New Mexico
25. North Dakota
26. Minnesota
27. New Hampshire
28. Virginia
29. Wisconsin
30. Oregon
31. Iowa
32. Kansas
33. Nebraska
34. West Virginia
35. Kentucky
36. Washington
37. District of Columbia
38. Missouri
39. Nevada
40. Maryland
41. Pennsylvania
42. Rhode Island
43. Massachusetts
44. Ohio
45. Illinois
46. California
47. Indiana
48. Michigan
49. New Jersey
50. Connecticut
51. New York
This survey is complete bunk! I have lived in AZ for 5 years and find the people to be the most unhappy of any place I've ever lived--Indiana, Michigan and Virginia. I found the people of Indiana to be the 'happiest', although I will admit that most Hoosiers are pretty ignorant and dont know how good they have it.
Louisiana is totally true.
the summer here is stupidly hot and miserable and the overall health and wealth of the state are retardedly low, but you still find so many happy people here. I think its because 1. We love to party. for any reason. at any time. and 2. We are too drunk to care and 3. Our laissez faire attitude is the only thing we really know, and the only thing we care to know. Basically, Louisiana is one big continuous party and thats how we like it. Everything else be damned.
This survey is complete bunk! I have lived in AZ for 5 years and find the people to be the most unhappy of any place I've ever lived--Indiana, Michigan and Virginia. I found the people of Indiana to be the 'happiest', although I will admit that most Hoosiers are pretty ignorant and dont know how good they have it.
Damn, they should have just asked you instead of the 1,300,000 people they did.
Would have saved a bunch of time.
But is that list really scientific? My experience with people I've talked to suggest that most people up north are depressed and constantly grumpy, while people in the middle and southern states tend to be more chipper. But lists tend to change, anyway.
NY vs Louisiana: Happiness as a Function of Culture
One of the salient features of NYC culture is its abrasiveness and standoffishness. There is also an air of competitiveness and "downwards social comparison"/ "keeping up with the Joneses" in NYC. Interestingly, it also scores high on levels of human development.
One of the salient features of Louisiana culture, on the other hand, is its warmth and friendliness. It also seems to be a less competitive place; if anything, there even seems to be some self-deprecating humor there. Interestingly, it also scores low on levels of human development.
Perhaps when a place becomes popular (and the supply side of its economy has a lot to offer), people and businesses do end up competing for limited space and other increasingly scarce resources. This automatically pushes anyone who is not highly driven, productive, and competitive out of the city. (This may also account for the higher levels of human development and higher costs of living there as well.)
To the extent that the competition becomes Machiavellian, there may also be a resulting sense of social disconnection. (This is certainly consistent with a culture of "downwards social comparison," abrasiveness, etc. Social disconnection also tends to create anxiety – which, according to some subjective reports, also seems to be at high levels in NYC.)
The social disconnection in NYC may in turn lower the subjective sense of well being there (and perhaps this explains the image of a New Yorker walking down the street as one who is constantly talking on the cell phone – even when it is dangerous or impractical to do so… A similar dynamic may explain the low divorce rates in the NE…). One might think that a higher income enjoyed there might offset the costs of social disconnection, except that research has revealed that the subjective sense of well being does not increase with income after the first 10 to 15k per year (which, interestingly, is about the amount needed to meet ones basic needs for food, shelter, etc). Similarly, lottery winners report an increase in the subjective sense of well being that only lasts for about three years or so - then they return to their pre-winnings baseline level of happiness. Thus, despite the income gap, the greater level of social connectedness in Louisiana may explain why Louisiana scores higher on the subjective sense of well being than NY.
Something similar seems to be going on in Sweden which also gets a high score in the (international) subjective sense of well being rankings. It's highly compressed tax brackets have slowed economic growth on the one hand, but have decreased competitiveness and downwards social comparison on the other. They also report high levels of social cohesion in Sweden.
But one might also argue that social cohesion by itself is not sufficient for human happiness. World religions, ideological zealotry, national extremism, addictions to social support, cloying relationships, etc may be associated with safety and boredom initially but may ironically lead to wars, argumentativeness, and a need for more excitement ultimately (or perhaps the excesses of Mardi Gras…). Certainly Baton Rouge and Stockholm would not be considered as exciting places to live as NYC and Los Angeles.
One thing that probably everyone can agree on is that people do need some excitement and growth in human development on the one hand, but that it would ideally be done within a social context of fair and friendly competition and systemic cooperation on the other. This would probably lead to relatively high levels of excitement and a fairly high subjective sense of well being also - both of which are probably necessary for stable and long term human happiness. (And maybe this is why the happiest states are mostly voting republican while the unhappiest ones tend to vote democrat; people are trying to attain this balance…)
One might also argue that a life of growing attainment of values that also have a social utility (as opposed to an antisocial utility…) is a life of meaning as well.
Last edited by gaphile; 12-26-2009 at 05:54 PM..
Reason: there is computer code in my post :(
Louisiana is totally true.
the summer here is stupidly hot and miserable and the overall health and wealth of the state are retardedly low, but you still find so many happy people here. I think its because 1. We love to party. for any reason. at any time. and 2. We are too drunk to care and 3. Our laissez faire attitude is the only thing we really know, and the only thing we care to know. Basically, Louisiana is one big continuous party and thats how we like it. Everything else be damned.
I agree wtih you!
Louisianans knows how to have FUN, and continue their historical cultures from generation to generation. The state has the greatest music to be found anywhere, and the tastiest cuisine.
By the way, despite the lax drinking laws there, it's also not high on the list of alcoholism in the US, did you know? It's somewhere in the middle, but lower than Oregon. Funny.
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NY vs Louisiana: Happiness as a Function of Culture
