Best and Worst States to Live

Retirement Life Topics

Latest poll shows the states with the happiest residents, and states with the most unhappy residents. These states may or may not be the best states for retirement.

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MOST UNHAPPY STATES TO LIVE

Criteria used for this poll was based upon a well-being index, life expectancy, obesity, and median household income and adult populations with high school diploma or higher.

These are not necessarily the best or worst places to retire because unemployment rates are also used and would skew the outcome for seniors who do not have to continue working or find employment.

Most miserable No. 5: Arkansas

Most miserable No. 4: Tennessee

Most miserable No. 3: Mississippi

Most miserable No. 2: Kentucky

The State ranked most miserable: West Virginia (lowest life expectancy of 76)

HAPPIEST STATES IN THE US

In analyzing the Gallup data, 24/7 Wall St. found that states with high well-being scores had populations that smoked less, exercised more and tried to learn new things each day.

They also tend to have much lower poverty rates and higher median incomes. Of the 10 states with the lowest well-being scores, eight are located in the South. This has been the case since the survey began.

LINK to over 100 places to retire in the U.S. HERE

Happiest No. 5: Vermont

Happiest No. 4: Utah

Happiest No. 3: Arizona

Happiest No. 2: Colorado

#1 Happiest State: Hawaii with the highest life expectancy age of 81.5

While we agree that much of the criteria used in the poll is valid even for seniors who seek places to consider for their retirement life, the best places for seniors to live after retirement may be different.