New Jersey Among America’s Happiest States In America

In a recent study, New Jersey lands among the happiest states in America. Do you find that hard to believe?

There are many things we tend to think of when we think of the Garden State. Words like crowded, expensive, cranky and stressed come to mind. But just plain happy? A recent study from Wallet Hub says just that.

So how well did New Jersey do? Let's not get crazy here, we're not number one or anything, but we did finish in the top third of the nation. To be exact, we ranked 13th happiest state in America.

I guess the bar is pretty low if we're excited about placing 13th in a poll, but let's be real here. Lighthearted and happy are words we normally don't associate with the state we call home.

Here's the breakdown. Things like 'emotional and physical well being', 'workplace environment' and 'community and environment' were ranked and our numbers in the latter two categories were pretty bad (44th and 38th respectively).

So how did we wind up in the top 15? It had a lot to do with our 'physical and emotional well being' rank, which was a very impressive third in the nation. We also ranked 2nd for 'lowest share of adult depression'.

You can see the full results at Wallet Hub. For the record, the happiest state in the nation in this study is Hawaii and West Virginia is the unhappiest. Closer to home, New York ranked 14th, and Pennsylvania was 30th.

I think it's time to forget certain stereotypes about living in the Garden State. While New Jersey life may not be any less crowded or less expensive because of this study, maybe we can be a little less cranky. Maybe.

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