New Jersey Makes List Of Top Ten Happiest States In The Country

Let's be real for a second. We all know that nobody loves to complain about New Jersey more than Jersey residents. However, if we hear anyone else making fun of our state, we wear our bruises on our sleeves.

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We always complain about how expensive it can be to live here, about certain government practices we don't agree with, the fact that you can't necessarily carry a weapon on your person here, etc. The list really does go on and on. Don't get it twisted, though; the second we hear someone attempt to take a jab at our state for anything at all, we're super quick to defend it.

Apparently, we don't hate living here in Jersey as much as we let on sometimes. A new study conducted by the folks over at Wallethub found that New Jersey actually falls within the top ten happiest states in the country. Who would've EVER thought??

It's true. As a matter of fact, if you can even believe it, New Jersey currently holds the number one spot for the lowest suicide rate in the country. In order to determine which states are the happiest, the experts observed specific pieces of data ranging from the depression rate and the positive COVID-19 testing rate to income growth and the unemployment rate.

Happiness in New Jersey (1=Happiest; 25=Avg.):

• 1^st – % of Depressed Adults
• 1^st – Suicide Rate
• 18^th – Number of Work Hours
• 3^rd – Separation & Divorce Rate
• 14^th – Safety
• 11^th – COVID-19 Positive Tests in the Past Week per Capita

The study reports that 40% of adults reported increased anxiety and/or depression amid the pandemic, so for Jersey to score so high on the happiness scale is pretty great news to hear. So, the moral of this study, at least from an NJ resident's perspective, is that the next time we want to complain about life here in Jersey, remember that most people from other states are feeling it worse than we are.