How ‘Happy’ Are the People of New York State?
It's a tough one to quantify, but the folks at financial website WalletHub are up to the task.
So, how is happiness measured? To determine 2018's Happiest States in America, WalletHub broke down its study to three main areas--Emotional & Physical Well-Being, Work Environment, and Community. Then, within each of those, there were 31 metrics, ranging from depression rate to sports participation to income growth. And it all added up to an overall Happiness grade.
New York finished 14th-happiest overall. Hawaii was #1 and West Virginia was dead-last.
On the brightest side, the Empire State also had the lowest share of adult depression and the second-lowest suicide rate.
On the other hand, New York's grades in Work Environment (which factored in commute times, concerns over salary and job security) and Community (weather, leisure time activity, divorce rates, safety issues and more) were not as impressive.
One fact WalletHub discovered: Happiness increases with wealth only up to an annual income of $75,000. So, if you're making that much or more, you're probably as happy in that department as you're going to get.
How would you rank our Central New York communities in happiness?