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USAT: Best states for happiness? WalletHub study ranks Hawaii first, West Virginia last

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Best states for happiness? WalletHub study ranks Hawaii first, West Virginia last

 

Pursuing happiness? Maybe you should head to Hawaii.

 

A new study from personal finance website WalletHub ranks all 50 states in terms of happiness.

 

For its survey, WalletHub compared states across three key dimensions, including emotional and physical well-being, work environment and community and environment, reasoning that, "previous studies have found that good economic, emotional, physical and social health are all key to a well-balanced and fulfilled life." WalletHub then used 31 metrics to evaluate each dimension (including things everything from adequate-sleep rate to number of work hours to income level and ideal weather).

 

The happiest state of all, according to the study, is Hawaii. It ranks first in the emotional and physical well-being dimension, with low shares of adult depression.

The second happiest state goes to Utah, which boasts a No. 1 ranking in the work environment dimension and also has low divorce rates.

 

Minnesota rounds out the top three happiest states, with low divorce rates and a high ranking for safety.

 

In general, states in the south seem to be unhappier. The least happy state, according to WalletHub, is West Virginia thanks to factors including low adequate sleep rates and high levels of adult depression. Arkansas ranks 49th on WalletHub's study of the happiest states, with low sports participation rates and high levels of adult depression. Louisiana, in 48th place, has more work hours and high divorce rates.

 

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Renegade7

Renegade7

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Okay, serious question:  How dependent is West Virginia's economy on Coal?  What should we do or can we do to help build up that's state's economy? 

 

Should it be on the federal government to be "nation building" in states that are borderline third world countries?  How do you turn that state around that doesn't alienate or leave out the people already in the state?  Despite my feelings on Trump, he doubled down on saving coal to help that state, it wasn't clear what the alternative was and how it would be implemented.

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Springfield

Springfield

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1 hour ago, zoony said:

People are happier in Salt Lake City than New Orleans

 

Seems legit.

 

Also, every native hawaiin is a bitter asshole who hates the US

 

But Hawaii is the US...

 

 

14 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Okay, serious question:  How dependent is West Virginia's economy on Coal?  What should we do or can we do to help build up that's state's economy? 

 

Should it be on the federal government to be "nation building" in states that are borderline third world countries?  How do you turn that state around that doesn't alienate or leave out the people already in the state?  Despite my feelings on Trump, he doubled down on saving coal to help that state, it wasn't clear what the alternative was and how it would be implemented.

 

I have no idea how dependent it is on coal but it’s a beautiful state and it’s a shame that it’s so poor.  It really gets hit hard with problem drugs like heroin and meth, which is a direct result of the lack of jobs.  I don’t even think there are enough coal jobs for all the junkies in that state.  Coal is dying and the people either need to adapt or perish.

 

They don’t need a Trump, they need representatives and senators who will bring money to the state and lead that state out of its dependence on the coal industry.

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Springfield

Springfield

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1 minute ago, Warhead36 said:

They need to realize coal is obsolete and adapt and learn new trades. Sorry the truth hurts.

 

I don’t think it’s quite that simple.  “New trades” are filled mostly.  Say you quit the coal mine to learn plumbing and there are no local plumbing jobs.  Move?  Leave all your friends and family behind?  If you have a wife and kids and people who depend on your income?  That’s a tough one.

 

They need a new industry.  Something local and fruitful and sustainable for the future.

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PeterMP

PeterMP

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28 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

They need to realize coal is obsolete and adapt and learn new trades. Sorry the truth hurts.

 

Coal is still heavily used to make steel and as such is far from obsolete and likely always will.  For decades WV has actually generated more coal, while employing fewer people in the coal industry (more automation and more strip mining).  West Virginia's economy is heavily tied to steel demand.  When the economy tanked, things lagged a bit for West Virginia because there was a lag in the price of coal associated with steel.   The flip of that was also true.  When things recovered for most, there was a lag for WV because people didn't start building again until they were more in the clear, and it was clear the economy was well on the road to recovery.  Now, steel demand has gone up as there have been increases in building globally and that's driven up the price of coal and so WV is doing better (all of which has nothing to do with anything that Trump has done) and so the economy is doing better there and unemployment is down to 4% (though I suspect that number is a bit misleading as I suspect they probably have a pretty high rate of people being counted as not labor participants).

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/345369-how-west-virginia-got-to-3-percent-gdp-growth

 

Longer term, the biggest issue for WV is that young people have been leaving so they have an aging demographic.  This means less work, fewer people trained to do high skill jobs, and more demand on social services.

 

And in that context, they are stuck sort of between a rock and a hard place.  They need to diversity their economy so that when steel prices go down their economy doesn't tank, but coal has been so important there for so long that they have weak environmental laws to encourage the growth of coal industry (they are also one of the leading natural gas states in the country so lax laws help that too).  Their lax environmental laws made them an attractive target for other companies making things of question health risks and wanting lax environmental laws (e.g https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2013/11/01/310072.htm).

 

As such, it isn't a very attractive place to move for young people or somebody thinking about kids.  WV is simultaneously beautiful, and heavily polluted.   One of the best things the federal government could do would be to give them money to clean up some of their environmental messes, which would simultaneously make the place less polluted and so attract new residents (possibly) and employee people (i.e. bring more non-coal jobs).

 

Which was part of the plan that Obama was pushing for that area of the country (not just WV, but KY too as both states have a lot of old and abandoned coal mines that nobody is watching and have who knows what chemicals that have dumped there), which McConnell (despite being from KY, which would have benefited) would never allow to come to a vote.

 

But longer term, they have to decide that being the dumping grounds for companies isn't acceptable or people that aren't absolutely desperate for jobs associated with coal are going to continue to leave.

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Renegade7

Renegade7

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1 hour ago, Springfield said:

 

I don’t think it’s quite that simple.  “New trades” are filled mostly.  Say you quit the coal mine to learn plumbing and there are no local plumbing jobs.  Move?  Leave all your friends and family behind?  If you have a wife and kids and people who depend on your income?  That’s a tough one.

 

They need a new industry.  Something local and fruitful and sustainable for the future.

Exactly what I was asking.  How does that happen?  Do we need to incentivize the private sector to go in there?  I'm weary of them making solar farms, sounds like a lot of trees getting cut down.  Pittsburg from my understanding saw the steel collapse coming and is now a center for banking and medical, right?  Do we try to get companies to put their factories there, focus on manufacturing at first instead of ask Bank of America to build a skyscraper in Charleston?

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The Evil Genius

The Evil Genius

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But ive read that coal is only about 2% of the job force in WV. I believe chemicals and biotech are the leading industries in the state now.

 

That said, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the state is getting older. I tend to believe that millennials (and the youngest of the Gen X era) largely don't want to live in socially regressive areas that additionally don't embrace some of their more liberal views. While most states have gotten more socially progressive the last 2 decades... WV has gone full Trump MAGAt (and whatever neoconservativism that came before it).

 

It's chosen to go backwards. And it's gotten older because of it.

 

 

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DCSaints_fan

DCSaints_fan

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On 9/19/2018 at 7:59 PM, Springfield said:

 

I don’t think it’s quite that simple.  “New trades” are filled mostly.  Say you quit the coal mine to learn plumbing and there are no local plumbing jobs.  Move?  Leave all your friends and family behind?  If you have a wife and kids and people who depend on your income?  That’s a tough one.

  

They need a new industry.  Something local and fruitful and sustainable for the future.

 

Depending on their age, yes, some need to retrain and get out of Dodge.  I moved across country when I was 29.  

 

Around here we're killing for skilled home remodelling contractors.  Alot of them won't even bother if its not a big job.  My sister told me how much it was to redo her kitchen, and I was absolutely floored.   We're talking "could have bought your own house for that" type money. 

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Renegade7

Renegade7

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19 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Virginia should be high on the "this place sucks" list.  Taxes are too high, roads are garbage, morning dew causes flooding, and traffic is crazy.  Oh, and most people drive like they are attempting suicide.  

 

You basing this on Hampton Roads?  A lot of people I know that blast Virginia don't take the job opportunities or diversity of NOVA I to account.  Drivers suck everywhere for my experience , sister drives trucks and can confirm this.

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TheGreatBuzz

TheGreatBuzz

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2 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

 

You basing this on Hampton Roads?  A lot of people I know that blast Virginia don't take the job opportunities or diversity of NOVA I to account.  Drivers suck everywhere for my experience , sister drives trucks and can confirm this.

Not just hampton roads.  I have family out in Roanoke also.  VA does have a bunch of good historic places and national parks.  Outside of that, I hate it.  Though apparently I am the only one that likes Florida so maybe I am just weird.

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