Turns Out, Sunshine States Really Are Happiest

[Elmore Furth]

I guess sunny states with low crime rates really do make you happier.

The state-by-state list, from happiest to least cheery:
1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. South Carolina
7. Mississippi
8. Montana
9. Alabama
10. Maine
11. Wyoming
12. Alaska
13. North Carolina
14. South Dakota
15. Texas
16. Idaho
17. Vermont
18. Arkansas
19. Georgia
20. Utah
21. Oklahoma
22. Delaware
23. Colorado
24. New Mexico
25. North Dakota
26. Minnesota
27. Virginia
28. New Hampshire
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. Ohio
44. Massachusetts
45. Illinois
46. California
47. New Jersey
48. Indiana
49. Michigan
50. Connecticut
51. New York

WASHINGTON (AP) -- People in sunny, outdoorsy states -- Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida -- say they're the happiest Americans, and researchers think they know why. A new study comparing self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living found these folks generally have reason to feel fine.

The places where people are most likely to report happiness also tend to rate high on studies comparing things like climate, crime rates, air quality and schools.

Turns Out, Sunshine States Really Are Happiest

[fl_dem]

1. oh I could be happier

granted we now are a "Blue" state, which thrills me, however mine and surrounding counties are the ugliest shade of archaic red. Turning the panhandle blue would elate me.

[provis99]

2. this isn't a measure of happiness; its a measure of self-delusion

Mississippi is the saddest, most depressed state in the union. The fact that they rate themselves highly in happiness probably reflects the fact that most have never even left the county they were born in, and have no basis of comparison. And Louisiana is No.1? A chemical wasteland full of depressed and oppressed people. I've been to all of the lower 48 states, and the happiest people I've met are in the Midwestern states, I particularly remember Indiana, Nebraska, and North Dakota as being full of easy-going people.

[enuegii]

3. Low crime rates?

I see at least four states in the list's top nine that regularly rank in the top five states with the country's highest murder rates. Happy killers, maybe?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. I'd like to know who came up with that. In Florida people are inside their air conditioned cars and

their air conditioned houses. Unless they can't afford them (which is increasingly the case), in which case they're outside in the sweltering, horrific, vapor heat and the rains and hurricanes.