The 50 Happiest States in America and How Much It Costs to Live There
While happiness may be a subjective experience, certain factors go into shaping it for people, such as work environment, community and emotional and physical well-being. People often choose where they’re going to live based on a combination of these factors, and of course, cost of living.
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While the cost of living varies from state to state, so does the happiness quotient–that is, people report being more or less happy based on where they live due to those factors mentioned above.
To find out which are the happiest states in America, and how much it costs to live there,
GOBankingRates analyzed all 50 states using the data from Digg.com’s Happiest States. Additionally, the cost of living indexes for each state were sourced from Missouri Economic and Research Information Center’s State Cost of Living Indexes. Average monthly expenditures were pulled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. An average single-family home values were sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index.
Read on to find out which states are the happiest, and see if you can afford to live there.
50. Alaska
Happiness quotient: 42.2
Median household income: $86,370
Cost of living index: 125.2
Total monthly cost of living: $4,810.93
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49. Hawaii
Happiness quotient: 66.4
Median household income: $94,814
Cost of living index: 180.3
Total monthly cost of living: $8,230.69
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48. West Virginia
Happiness quotient: 35.1
Median household income: $55,217
Cost of living index: 87.7
Total monthly cost of living: $2,827.01
47. Louisiana
Happiness quotient: 35.9
Median household income: $57,852
Cost of living index: 91.0
Total monthly cost of living: $3,030.13
46. Oregon
Happiness quotient: 47.7
Median household income: $76,632
Cost of living index: 114.7
Total monthly cost of living: $5,044.62
45. New Mexico
Happiness quotient: 43.5
Median household income: $58,722
Cost of living index: 94.0
Total monthly cost of living: $3,653.31
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44. Montana
Happiness quotient: 49.1
Median household income: $66,341
Cost of living index: 102.9
Total monthly cost of living: $4,652.78
43. Mississippi
Happiness quotient: 41.4
Median household income: $52,985
Cost of living index: 86.3
Total monthly cost of living: $2,854.60
42. Tennessee
Happiness quotient: 38.3
Median household income: $64,035
Cost of living index: 90.3
Total monthly cost of living: $3,641.00
41. Arkansas
Happiness quotient: 39.7
Median household income: $56,335
Cost of living index: 89.0
Total monthly cost of living: $2,982.69
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40. Alabama
Happiness quotient: 40.8
Median household income: $59,609
Cost of living index: 88.3
Total monthly cost of living: $3,142.68
39. Kentucky
Happiness quotient: 40.6
Median household income: $60,183
Cost of living index: 92.0
Total monthly cost of living: $3,039.06
38. California
Happiness quotient: 60.5
Median household income: $91,905
Cost of living index: 138.5
Total monthly cost of living: $6,915.25
37. Maine
Happiness quotient: 52.0
Median household income: $68,251
Cost of living index: 109.9
Total monthly cost of living: $4,319.43
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36. Nevada
Happiness quotient: 50.7
Median household income: $71,646
Cost of living index: 101.0
Total monthly cost of living: $4,637.38
35. Vermont
Happiness quotient: 52.8
Median household income: $74,014
Cost of living index: 115.3
Total monthly cost of living: $4,423.59
34. Oklahoma
Happiness quotient: 44.1
Median household income: $61,364
Cost of living index: 86.2
Total monthly cost of living: $3,050.06
33. Washington
Happiness quotient: 54.9
Median household income: $90,325
Cost of living index: 116.0
Total monthly cost of living: $5,672.61
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32. Indiana
Happiness quotient: 46.5
Median household income: $67,173
Cost of living index: 91.0
Total monthly cost of living: $3,329.99
31. Ohio
Happiness quotient: 47.8
Median household income: $66,990
Cost of living index: 94.7
Total monthly cost of living: $3,273.14
30. Arizona
Happiness quotient: 53.5
Median household income: $72,581
Cost of living index: 108.4
Total monthly cost of living: $4,561.57
29. North Carolina
Happiness quotient: 53.6
Median household income: $66,186
Cost of living index: 95.3
Total monthly cost of living: $3,857.01
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28. Wyoming
Happiness quotient: 48.1
Median household income: $72,495
Cost of living index: 92.4
Total monthly cost of living: $3,893.85
27. Massachusetts
Happiness quotient: 58.4
Median household income: $96,505
Cost of living index: 146.5
Total monthly cost of living: $5,916.60
26. Rhode Island
Happiness quotient: 52.4
Median household income: $81,370
Cost of living index: 110.7
Total monthly cost of living: $4,679.95
25. South Carolina
Happiness quotient: 55.3
Median household income: $63,623
Cost of living index: 95.3
Total monthly cost of living: $3,633.22
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24. Texas
Happiness quotient: 47.7
Median household income: $73,035
Cost of living index: 92.7
Total monthly cost of living: $3,679.83
23. Missouri
Happiness quotient: 48.6
Median household income: $65,920
Cost of living index: 88.5
Total monthly cost of living: $3,263.37
22. Colorado
Happiness quotient: 51.5
Median household income: $87,598
Cost of living index: 105.1
Total monthly cost of living: $5,197.62
21. Idaho
Happiness quotient: 59.3
Median household income: $70,214
Cost of living index: 98.6
Total monthly cost of living: $4,556.23
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20. Florida
Happiness quotient: 59.3
Median household income: $67,917
Cost of living index: 100.7
Total monthly cost of living: $4,368.41
19. Michigan
Happiness quotient: 50.2
Median household income: $68,505
Cost of living index: 90.6
Total monthly cost of living: $3,287.58
18. New Hampshire
Happiness quotient: 57.3
Median household income: $90,845
Cost of living index: 114.1
Total monthly cost of living: $5,014.45
17. New York
Happiness quotient: 56.7
Median household income: $81,386
Cost of living index: 125.9
Total monthly cost of living: $4,620.09
16. Wisconsin
Happiness quotient: 55.7
Median household income: $72,458
Cost of living index: 95.1
Total monthly cost of living: $3,741.76
15. Pennsylvania
Happiness quotient: 54.0
Median household income: $73,170
Cost of living index: 95.6
Total monthly cost of living: $3,541.01
14. Georgia
Happiness quotient: 54.1
Median household income: $71,355
Cost of living index: 90.8
Total monthly cost of living: $3,792.47
13. South Dakota
Happiness quotient: 55.9
Median household income: $69,457
Cost of living index: 92.4
Total monthly cost of living: $3,630.21
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12. Kansas
Happiness quotient: 54.5
Median household income: $69,747
Cost of living index: 87.1
Total monthly cost of living: $3,207.92
11. Iowa
Happiness quotient: 55.0
Median household income: $70,571
Cost of living index: 90.3
Total monthly cost of living: $3,199.88
10. Delaware
Happiness quotient: 58.7
Median household income: $79,325
Cost of living index: 101.1
Total monthly cost of living: $4,209.06
9. North Dakota
Happiness quotient: 58
Median household income: $73,959
Cost of living index: 94.6
Total monthly cost of living: $3,499.27
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8. Connecticut
Happiness quotient: 60.7
Median household income: $90,213
Cost of living index: 112.8
Total monthly cost of living: $4,564.38
7. Nebraska
Happiness quotient: 58.9
Median household income: $71,722
Cost of living index: 90.9
Total monthly cost of living: $3,388.09
6. Illinois
Happiness quotient: 56.2
Median household income: $78,433
Cost of living index: 92.1
Total monthly cost of living: $3,439
5. Virginia
Happiness quotient: 57.7
Median household income: $87,249
Cost of living index: 101.9
Total monthly cost of living: $4,227.56
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4. New Jersey
Happiness quotient: 62
Median household income: $97,126
Cost of living index: 113.9
Total monthly cost of living: $5,113.93
3. Minnesota
Happiness quotient: 62.8
Median household income: $84,313
Cost of living index: 94.1
Total monthly cost of living: $3,905.28
2. Utah
Happiness quotient: 69.8
Median household income: $86,833
Cost of living index: 103.2
Total monthly cost of living: $4,993.59
1. Maryland
Happiness quotient: 64.6
Median household income: $98,461
Cost of living index: 116.5
Total monthly cost of living: $4,495
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The 50 Happiest States in America and How Much It Costs to Live There
