Happiest States: Where Colorado Ranks May Surprise You

DENVER, CO – Other than a volcano that hurls “lava bombs” and the occasional hurricane, there’s not a lot of reason to be glum in Hawaii, which ranked first in an analysis that purports to sort out the happiest and unhappiest states. Colorado ranked about one-third of the way down the list at 18th.

The personal finance website WalletHub collected data from across more than 30 indicators — the per capita rates of depression, the rate of sports participation, per capita income and that sort of thing — to come up with the ranking. Money only goes so far to make people happy.

People who live on less than $75,000 a year face financial pressures that can cause stress, according to Amanda Watson Lewis, an assistant professor of psychology at Kentucky’s Murray State University.

If people earn more than $100,000 or so a year, they “tend to begin to lose the ability to savor everyday pleasures,” Lewis wrote in comments accompanying the 2018 Happiest States in America report.

“A lot of the connection between money and happiness is also tied up in how people spend their money,” she wrote. “For example, research shows that people tend to be happier when they can spend their money to help others.”

Health, personality, self-esteem and other traits are better predictors of happiness than is money, Lewis wrote.

“Part of our level of happiness may even be set in our genetic code,” she wrote. “However, it seems like the most commonly agreed-upon predictor of happiness is love. If a person has positive relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners, they are more likely to report happiness.”

Colorado was 19th in the overall emotional and physical wellbeing, 46th in the community and 3rd in work environment ranking. Colorado did well in the "adequate average sleep" ranking (2) and participation in sports (1). Colorado also ranked fourth in the highest income growth.

Colorado didn't rank among the top five in suicide rates in this study, but the state has an alarmingly high rate of people who take their own lives, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Colorado also has a high number of people who die from drug overdoses and alcohol.

So, what makes Hawaiians so happy? It isn’t the amount of sleep they’re getting — the Aloha State ranks 50th in this area. They also tend to stay married — the state has the fifth-lowest divorce rate. Hawaii ranks first in the overall emotional and physical wellbeing ranking and fourth in the community and environment ranking. Hawaii ranks third for the lowest depression rate among adults.

Rounding out the top five spots in the 2018 Happiest States in America report were Utah, Minnesota, North Dakota and California.

The five unhappiest states, according to the ranking, are West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alaska and Oklahoma.

Incidentally, we’re not as happy nationally as we once were. The United States slipped four spots on the World Happiness Report, which ranks 156 countries according to their happiness and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrants.

A major focus in this year’s report was on migration within and between countries.

By Beth Dalbey, Patch National Staff

Photo: Shutterstock / Christin Lola

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