Looking For A Change In Scenery? These Are The Happiest States In America For 2022

Kelsey Marie
·2 min read

If you’ve been scrolling on career TikTok lately, you’ve probably seen videos about ‘quiet quitting.’ To ‘quiet quit’ means to do the bare minimum in a job rather than going above and beyond. Americans have become increasingly anxious and unsatisfied, leading to movements like ‘quiet quitting.’

With inflation and a possible recession on the horizon, 87% of Americans are feeling “anxious” or “very anxious,” according to a recent American Psychiatric Association poll. If you’re in this category, perhaps changing cities can brighten your mood and change your perspective.

WalletHub, a personal-finance website, recently released its 2022’s Happiest States in America report, which compares the 50 states across 30 key indicators of happiness such as income growth and feeling of productivity.

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Adobe Stock

Related: Romania Makes Me Feel Happy And Fulfilled

How does where you live impact your happiness?

“Community environments have an important influence on happiness and health. In addition to your daily activities and choices, living in a community that offers access to resources and opportunities, and engenders a sense of safety, belonging, connection, and support helps people to thrive,” says Maryam Kia-Keating, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist. 

Kia-Keating continues, “Research shows that greater racial diversity in a community increases the likelihood that people living there engage in prosocial behaviors, such as offering help to a stranger. The sense of connection and reassurance that neighbors are looking out for one another can have a powerful influence on happiness and well-being.”

The top 20 happiest states in America:

  1. Hawaii

  2. Maryland

  3. Minnesota

  4. Utah

  5. New Jersey

  6. Idaho

  7. California

  8. Illinois

  9. Nebraska

  10. Connecticut 

  11. Virginia

  12. South Dakota

  13. North Dakota

  14. Massachusetts

  15. New Hampshire

  16. Iowa

  17. Delaware

  18. Florida

  19. Georgia

  20. North Carolina

Was your state on the list? To read the full report, click here. 

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