New Hampshire Ranked Happiest State in New England

Photo by Peter Dutton on Flickr/Creative Commons

“Live free or die” may prove more a instructive mantra than “Eat, pray, love.”

New Hampshire was ranked the 11th happiest state in the country, according to a new report by personal finance social network WalletHub, good for happiest of the six New England states.

Vermont came in second at No. 14, followed by Massachusetts (16), Connecticut (17), Rhode Island (27), and Maine (33).

To compile their list, WalletHub ranked all 50 states and Washington, D.C. using 28 metrics across three dimensions: emotional and physical well-being (suicide and depression rates, obesity rate, life expectancy, sports participation rate), work environment (commute time, income level, unemployment rate), and community and environment (weather, population growth rate, divorce rate).

Maine and Vermont tied for the fifth-highest sports participation rate, while Rhode Island had the third-lowest number of work hours. New England swept the top five safest states: Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maine, in order.

The unhappiest state in America? That’d be West Virginia.

So go buy some legal fireworks, grab a burger at the Red Arrow Diner, and check out WalletHub’s full ranking here.