Happiest States List Released

One possible reason Louisiana is the happiest state

Are you feeling particularly happy right now? If so, it might have nothing to do with the upcoming holidays, that new promotion, or the fact you just won a couple hundred bucks playing online poker. No, the real reason you’re happy might be because you happen to live in the right place. A new study of the happiest states in America just came out, and it details, in order, all 50 states, plus whater the District of Columbia is, in order from most happy to least happy.

At the top of the list: Louisiana, Hawaii and Florida. Down at the bottom: Michigan, Connecticut and New York. Now, I’m sure all kinds of pundits and armchair sociologists will come out with their own reasons why the happiest states are so cheerful, and why the grumpy states are the way they are. But the real reason seems pretty obvious. 

Take a look at the list of the hottest states, temperature wise, and compare it to the top 10 of the happiest ones, and what do you see? The two lists have seven states in common. So, is the secret to happiness really as simple as just living somewhere hot? Apparently yes. And is it that surprising that places that regularly get down to -20 degrees tend to make people grumpy?

One thing that might be skewing these results, though, is that a lot of the hottest states also tend to attract lots of retirees. And as we all know, nothing makes a person happier than not having to get up every morning and drag their sorry butt into work.