Happiest States of 2011: The List

waikiki beach and diamond head
Sun and surf? What's not to be happy about? (Image credit: tomas del amo | Shutterstock)

A survey called the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index reveals which states are happiest. The index includes questions about six types of well-being, including overall evaluation of their lives, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors (such as whether a person smokes or exercises), and job satisfaction.

Click here to learn more about the survey and what it means. Also see 7 Things That Will Make You Happy.

Here are the 50 U.S. states in order of their well-being scores, which are out of 100 points.

  1. Hawaii: 70.2
  2. North Dakota: 70.0
  3. Minnesota: 69.2
  4. Utah: 69.0
  5. Alaska: 69.0
  6. Colorado: 68.4
  7. Kansas: 68.4
  8. Nebraska: 68.3
  9. New Hampshire: 68.2
  10. Montana: 68.0
  11. South Dakota: 67.8
  12. Vermont: 67.7
  13. Maryland: 67.6
  14. Virginia: 67.4
  15. Iowa: 67.4
  16. Massachusetts: 67.4
  17. California: 67.3
  18. Washington: 67.3
  19. Connecticut: 67.2
  20. Oregon: 67.1
  21. Wyoming: 66.9
  22. Wisconsin: 66.9
  23. Idaho: 66.9
  24. New Mexico: 66.8
  25. Maine: 66.7
  26. Arizona: 66.6
  27. Texas: 66.4
  28. Georgia: 66.3
  29. New Jersey: 66.2
  30. North Carolina: 66.1
  31. Pennsylvania: 66.0
  32. Illinois: 65.9
  33. South Carolina: 65.7
  34. New York: 65.7
  35. Rhode Island: 65.6
  36. Louisiana: 65.5
  37. Michigan: 65.3
  38. Oklahoma: 65.1
  39. Indiana: 65.1
  40. Nevada: 65.0
  41. Tennessee: 65.0
  42. Florida: 64.9
  43. Missouri: 64.8
  44. Arkansas: 64.7
  45. Alabama: 64.6
  46. Ohio: 64.5
  47. Delaware: 64.2
  48. Mississippi: 63.4
  49. Kentucky: 63.3
  50. West Virginia: 62.3
Jeanna Bryner
Live Science Editor-in-Chief

Jeanna served as editor-in-chief of Live Science. Previously, she was an assistant editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Jeanna has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland, and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.