COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio was ranked the seventh “unhappiest” state in the union, according to an annual survey that measures residents’ attitudes about things like physical and emotional health and work environment.
Ohio’s score on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was 64.6, up slightly from last year’s 64.5, putting it ahead of Alabama but behind Louisiana on the list.
Last year, Ohio was in the bottom five.
Columbus was second only to Toledo among the state’s happiest large cities.
In 2012, Ohioans said they enjoyed communities that were safe and had good access to health care and healthy foods. They also scored the state high on emotional and physical health, but low on work environment and “life evaluation,” which measures whether residents think they’re “thriving” or “struggling.”
For the fourth straight year, Hawaii claimed the top spot. Residents were most likely to rate their lives as “thriving” and scored high in categories such as emotional health.
On the flip side, West Virginia was found to be the “least happy” of the 50 states.
Pollsters say residents in “happy” states exercised more, smoked less and tend to have higher incomes and lower unemployment.
Colorado, Minnesota, Utah and Vermont rounded out the top five for “happiest” states while Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas found themselves in the bottom five.