Cheer up! Tennessee is a great state if you want to be happy, according to study results published Dec. 17 in the journal Science. The study looked at objective measurements—the state’s weather, home prices, and other factors that are known reasons to frown (or smile)—and also at subjective ones, surveying 1.3 million U.S. citizens between 2005 and 2008 about their well-being. Conducted by Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and Stephen Wu, an economist at Hamilton College in New York, the study rates Tennessee fourth as a “happiness” state. Here’s the whole Top 10:
Happiest States to Live In 2009
1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine
The only qualm researchers had was with Louisiana being in the top spot, as some of the objective data collection occurred before Hurricane Katrina. The two least happy states: New York and Connecticut.
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