Is Kentucky (And Your State) Where Misery Loves Company?

Are you miserable? It may be that the person or  situation that has been a thorn in your flesh is getting too much credit for all your troubles. If you reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, or my state, Kentucky, you are not a happy camper.   A recent Gallup study suggests  you are miserable, and you do have a lot of company. Sorry to give you the bad news, but the findings of the new Happiest and Most Miserable U.S. States survey was just published, and Kentucky rank 49th, dead last, on the misery index surpassed only by West Virginia, the most miserable state in the nation. The survey looked at several indicators to determine rankings including well being, life expectancy, obesity, median income, and adult population with high school diploma or higher.

Below is an excerpt from the article, 10 Happiest U.S. States;  247 Wall St. posted on the Huffington Post's Healthy Living page:

According to a Gallup poll released today (February 28th, updated March 1st), the United States has shown almost no improvement in well-being in the past five years, increasing slightly from 2011 when Americans reported the most miserable scores since the survey began. The top and bottom states have also remained nearly the same. West Virginia, which received the lowest well-being score in 2012, has routinely been in the bottom two, and Hawaii ranked highest for the fourth year in a row.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which has surveyed 1.7 million Americans since the survey was first conducted in 2008, reflects the physical and emotional health of residents in each of the 50 states. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the scores of each state in the six categories that comprise Gallup’s index to identify objective measures that impact well-being.

Click Here To See The Happiest States
Click Here To See The Most Miserable States

Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport explained to 24/7 Wall St. that well-being is important because happier, healthier citizens tend to have positive social and economic impacts on the places they live. “Well-being is important because of the hypothesis that it leads to good outcomes,” Newport said. “If your citizens have high well-being, they’re more likely to be better citizens and engage in better behaviors and make things better all the way around. It’s a positive goal for those that look at what we ought to emphasize in society.”

America's Happiest (And Most Miserable) States:
49. Kentucky
Well-being index score: 62.7 %
Life expectancy: 76.2 years (7th lowest);
Obesity: 29.7% (6th highest);
Median household income: $41,141 (4th lowest);
Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 83.1% (6th lowest)

Kentucky has one of the lowest proportions of adults with a high school degree, as well as the fourth-lowest median income in the country. Kentucky also ranked dead-last in terms of healthy behaviors. A mere 60.7% of respondents said they ate healthily the day before, by far the lowest of any state. Not surprisingly, Kentucky also ranked second from the bottom in terms of physical health. As many as 29% of people indicated they had health problems that prevented them from doing age-appropriate activities, a higher percentage than any state other than West Virginia. Kentucky also ranked second from the bottom in the life evaluation and emotional health categories.

Among the Most Miserble States:

50:  West Virginia

49:  Kentucky

48:  Mississippi

47:  Tennessee

46:  Arkansas

45:  Alabama

Other states among the most miserable include Oklahome (41), Indiana (42), Louisana (43), and Ohio (44).
Do you agree with this findings?  Do you consider yourself to be happy or miserable and why?

Read more: America’s Happiest (and Most Miserable) States - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2013/02/28/americas-happiest-and-most-miserable-states/#ixzz2MbmyjbOj

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