Happiest States: Pennsylvania's Ranking Is ... Meh

PENNSYLVANIA — Other than a volcano that launches "lava bombs" and the occasional monster wave, there's not a lot of reason to be glum in Hawaii, which ranked first in an analysis that claims to report the happiest and unhappiest states in the U.S.

To determine where Americans are the happiest, the personal finance website, WalletHub, examined the 50 states across 31 key metrics, ranging from depression rate, to job satisfaction, to separation and divorce rates.

Each relevant metric was then listed with its corresponding weight, and then graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing maximum happiness — the 31 weighted scores were then put together to give each state and individual score.

Pennsylvania ranked 26th on the list overall, just above average, according to the report.

PA finished 23rd in "emotional and physical well-being," a dismal 37 in "work environment," and a slightly better 21 in "community and environment."

Another strike against the Keystone State? We ranked among the five states with the lowest adequate sleep rate.

Our neighbors to the east in New Jersey were ranked No. 5 overall. To the south of us, Maryland was ranked No. 7. New York came in at No. 15, Delaware earned the No. 16 spot, Ohio got No. 37, and West Virginia came in at No. 50.

Money isn't a driver of happiness, but it can increase it, according to the study — "Happiness only increases with wealth up to an annual income of $75,000 to $95,000." An analysis from the journal Nature Human Behavior found that the $95,000 mark is ideal for "life evaluation," which includes long-term goals, peer comparisons, and other macro-level metrics.

These are the states that made the top 10 of WalletHub's rankings:

1. Hawaii: 66.48
2. Utah: 65.93
3. Minnesota: 65.57
4. California: 64.11
5. New Jersey: 60.54
6. Idaho: 60.51
7. Massachusetts: 60.50
8. Maryland: 59.53
9. Nebraska: 59.04
10. Connecticut: 57.93

Utah had the fewest hours worked in the country, as well as the highest volunteer rates, and the lowest divorce rate. Texas on the other hand finished as the least safe state in the U.S., and Oregon had the highest share of adult depression.

West Virginia took home the lowly honor of the unhappiest state.

Overall the 10 least happiest states in the country were:

40. New Mexico: 44.91
41. Missouri: 42.99
42. Tennessee: 42.75
43. Oklahoma: 40.56
44. Alabama: 40.11
45. Kentucky: 38.86
46. Louisiana: 38.41
47. Mississippi: 38.28
48. Alaska: 36.48
49. Arkansas: 34.07
50. West Virginia: 33.73