Louisiana ranks number one on the happy scale. Photo credit: LA Times

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) just put out the results of an interesting survey and study they conducted on the “happiest states in the US.”  Over four years, scientists interviewed over 1.3 million people (!) with a general inquiry as to their satisfaction with their lives.Is it a total surprise that the top states were Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee, and Arizona?  Arguably states that have some of the most sunshine and the best climate of all fifty states and DC.  Indeed, they found a correlation with the number of hours of sunshine, congestion, and air quality, among other factors, with people’s good feelings in each state.

As we like to discover here at WeareverTheWeather, these findings translate well to, what we call, the “style culture” of a city – the specific fashion identity of a city or region based on its climate and general attitude.  As a tribute, we’ll be looking at Honolulu, Miami, and Nashville in coming posts.  Check out our posts on New Orleans and Phoenix to get style clues for your next visit to those happy places!

Click here for the USA Today article on December 18, 2009.

Happy Rankings

The state-by-state list (including Washington, D.C.), from happiest to least cheery: 1. Louisiana 2. Hawaii 3. Florida 4. Tennessee 5. Arizona 6. South Carolina 7. Mississippi 8. Montana 9. Alabama 10. Maine 11. Wyoming 12. Alaska 13. North Carolina 14. South Dakota 15. Texas 16. Idaho 17. Vermont 18. Arkansas 19. Georgia 20. Utah 21. Oklahoma 22. Delaware 23. Colorado 24. New Mexico 25. North Dakota 26. Minnesota 27. Virginia 28. New Hampshire 29. Wisconsin 30. Oregon 31. Iowa 32. Kansas 33. Nebraska 34. West Virginia 35. Kentucky 36. Washington 37. District of Columbia 38. Missouri 39. Nevada 40. Maryland 41. Pennsylvania 42. Rhode Island 43. Ohio 44. Massachusetts 45. Illinois 46. California 47. New Jersey 48. Indiana 49. Michigan 50. Connecticut 51. New York

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