Hawaii crowned ‘happiest state’ for seventh consecutive year

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Living in Hawaii isn’t easy.

The high cost of living ... the aging infrastructure ... the traffic.

But all that doesn’t compare to the positives of waking up in the Aloha State every morning, as evidenced by the annual Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index. For a seventh consecutive year, Hawaii has topped the poll.

In other words, we’re the happiest state ― again. (Lucky we live Hawaii!)

Hawaii’s “well-being score” for 2018 was 64.6, Gallup announced Wednesday.

The next happiest state, Wyoming, had a well-being score of 64.6. And Alaska rounded out the top three.

To come up with the scores, Gallup polls people on five elements of well-being: Career, social, financial, community and physical. Some 115,000 U.S. adults were included in last year’s survey. Some 502 of those polled were in Hawaii.

The national well-being score in 2018 was 61.2, and that figure has been on the decline since 2014.

Another point of pride for the islands: Hawaii topped all states in three of the five polled elements: Career, social and financial well-being. And for community and physical, Hawaii was in the top five.

At the bottom of the pack for well-being: West Virginia, with a well-being score of 57.

Arkansas and Kentucky rounded out the bottom three.

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