How Happy is Connecticut? WalletHub Ranks the States by Health and Happiness

Two studies released this year measuring happiness and health across the country found Connecticut among the top-rated states overall and one of the best places in the nation to raise a child.

WalletHub’s ranking of the happiest states in the country saw Connecticut land a top-10 finish, coming in at seventh place and earning top marks as the happiest New England state. The company’s rankings of happiness emphasized three key elements that impact daily life: emotional and physical well-being, work environments and community environments.

Connecticut took sixth place overall in the metrics of emotional and physical well-being, which considered physical health, mental health, life expectancy and food insecurity, among other metrics.

While Connecticut saw some of the lowest overall work hours in the country, its work environment metrics came in lower, at 16th place overall. This metric considered financial anxiety, average annual incomes, job security and additional elements including “share of work-related stressed tweets.” Connecticut also came in lower, at 21st overall, in measures of “community and environment,” with metrics including volunteer rates, ideal weather, leisure time per day and divorce rate.

In Wallethub’s overall rankings, Connecticut was the highest-ranking New England state, with Massachusetts at 10th due to its low “community and environment” rank and New Hampshire at 14th. Hawaii topped the list with Maryland and New Jersey filling out the top 3. The bottom three states were Louisiana, Arkansas and West Virginia, according to the WalletHub ranking.

A second set of rankings, released in April, found Connecticut children among the happiest and healthiest in the country, with neighbors Massachusetts and New York coming in at second and third.

VocoVision, a teletherapy company, created a Happy Child Index, measuring ten factors that impact children’s mental and physical health. These include access to local libraries, sleep quality, access to mental health care, youth suicide and disconnected youth rates, access to parks and recreation, healthy food, making new friends and air pollution.

Connecticut received its top placement due to high rankings in many of those metrics, including top-five rankings in library access and low suicide rates, as well as top-10 rankings for parks and recreation access and mental health care.

By Joe O’Leary