The Ten Most Miserable States

“Well-being” is an inexplicable state of mind. How well people feel is based on their own internal compasses. Researchers have enough trouble defending the methodology used in testing people’s IQs.

The difficulty of measuring happiness has not stopped Gallup from taking polls on the subject. The survey company says that the aspects of well-being are “six subcategories: life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment, and basic access.” Gallup supposes that people will answer the same questions about subjective measures objectively.

• Click Here For The Ten Most Miserable States

The survey company has taken its data and broken it down by state, metropolitan, and congressional districts.  Members of Congress in unhappy districts may fear for their jobs if they believe that voters chose their elected officials based on how they feel about themselves.

24/7 Wall St. took the Gallup information and added additional data that shows the emotional state of the states’ residents. Our analysis includes median income. West Virginia is at the bottom of the rankings. It has the second lowest median income among all 50 states.  24/7 Wall St. also added unemployment statistics to its analysis. There is a close correlation between joblessness and well-being. 24/7 used data regarding the percentage of adults who are obese, however these numbers came from Gallup. West Virginia has the highest obesity rate of any state–33.5%.

This is the 24/7 Wall St. list of The Ten Most Miserable States. Data used includes figures from Gallup, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Gallup’s description of its study: “The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index is the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents’ health and well-being.” The organizations interview at least 1,000 U.S. adults every day.  The data used in this analysis comes from Gallup’s in-depth 2010 report on the states.

Read On For The Ten Most Miserable States.

10. Michigan

> Median Income: $45,255 (17th Lowest)
> % Obese: 28.5% (16th Highest)
> Unemployment: 10.7% (5th Highest)

Michigan is still facing some of the worst economic conditions in the country due to the prominent role of the auto industry in the state.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state has an unemployment rate of 10.7%, the fifth worst as of January 2011 of this year.  According to Gallup, the rate of underemployment in the state is between 21% and 24.9%, placing it among the worst in this category along with eight other states.

9. Louisiana

> Median Income: $42,492 (10th Lowest)
> % Obese: 30.3% (tied for 6th Highest)
> Unemployment: 7.8% (19th Lowest)

Louisiana’s low level of well-being is largely the product of poor physical health.  The state has an obesity rate of 30.3%, higher than the national average of 26.6%.  Louisiana also has the eighth highest level of diabetes,13.2%.  In addition the state has the fifth lowest “frequent consumption of produce” on average, with only 54.1% of the population regularly eating their vegetables.  Louisiana also has the third highest percentage of people without health insurance, 23.7%.

8. Nevada

> Median Income: $53,341 (18th Highest)
> % Obese: 26.3% (21st Lowest)
> Unemployment: 14.2% (Highest Among All States)

Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index, which rates states on how their residents view the country’s economic conditions today and whether they think economic conditions are getting better or worse, gives Nevada the fourth lowest score in the country.  This is not a surprise because the state has the highest unemployment rate in the country — 14.2%.  Nevada also has the highest percentage of employed residents who say their employer is laying people off, 30.3%.

7. Delaware

> Median Income: $56,860 (10th Highest)
> % Obese: 27.6% (tied for 23rd Highest)
> Unemployment: 8.5% (25th Lowest)

Delaware has the lowest overall score for the Well-Being Sub-Index “work environment.”  This means that residents have overall low job satisfaction, lack ability to use their strengths at work, experience poor treatment by supervisors, and lack open and trusting work environments.  Delaware also ranked last in this category the year before.

6.  Ohio

> Median Income: $45,395 (18th Lowest)
> % Obese: 28.9% (Tied for 10th Highest)
> Unemployment: 9.4% (17th Highest)

Ohio has a fairly low overall well-being.  The state has an obesity rate of 28.9%, the tenth highest in the country.  The state is also tied with Arkansas for the sixth highest rate of diabetes, 13.3%.  Worst still, only 48.2% of Ohio’s residents report exercising for at least 30 minutes three or more times a week.  This rate is tied with Alabama for the sixth worst in the country.

5. Alabama

> Median Income: $40,489 (5th Lowest)
> % Obese: 29.2% (8th Highest)
> Unemployment: 9.3% (18th Highest)

Alabama has the eighth highest rate of obesity in the country, 29.2%.  Diabetes also affects 14.4% of the state’s population, the third highest rate in the country.  These high rates most likely result from poverty within the state.  Alabama has the fifth lowest median income in the country, $40,489.  Alabama also has the sixth lowest percent of a state population that exercise frequently, 48.2%.

4. Arkansas

> Median Income: $37,823 (3rd Lowest)
> % Obese: 30.3% (Tied for 4th Highest)
> Unemployment: 7.8% (19th Lowest)

Despite having a relatively healthy state economy with regards to employment, Arkansas has the third lowest average median income.  The state’s residents, therefore, have many of the problems connected to poverty.  Alabama has the fourth highest obesity rate in the country, 30.3%, along with Louisiana and South Carolina.  It also has the sixth highest rate of diabetes, 13.3%, along with Ohio.  Arkansas has the lowest rate of all states for people who exercise frequently, with 47%.

3. Mississippi

> Median Income: $36,646 (Lowest)
> % Obese: 33% (2nd Highest)
> Unemployment: 10.1% (10th Highest)

Mississippi had the worst score in the “basic access” category, meaning it had the worst availability of basic necessities like clean water, medical care, shelter, health insurance, and safety. The lack of access corresponds with the state’s national-low median income, at $36,646, compared to a national average of close to $50,000. The state also had the second-highest rate of obesity in the country, with 33% of adults have body weight above what is considered to be a healthy level.

[Read More: The Elusive Inflation Data For Consumers]

2. Kentucky

> Median Income: $40,072 (4th Lowest)
> % Obese: 32% (3rd Highest)
> Unemployment: 10.4% (8th Highest)

Kentucky has the worst score in the Healthy Behaviors Sub-Index, meaning the state has high rates of smoking and unhealthy eating, and a low-frequency of exercise. Partially as a consequence of this, the state has the third-highest rate of obesity, and has the second-worst overall score in physical health. The state also has the second-worst score in emotional health and life evaluation. Kentucky has a median income of $40,072, the third-lowest in the country.

1. West Virginia

> Median Income: $37,435 (2nd Lowest)
> % Obese: 33.5% (Highest)
> Unemployment: 9.6% (15th Highest)

West Virginia ranks lowest in overall well-being, as well as in Life Evaluation, Emotional Health, and Physical Health.  Residents, therefore, have a poor view of their present life situations and what their situations will be in five years.  With regards to Emotional Health, West Virginians say they often worry and experience sadness and stress.  According to Gallup, the state has an obesity rate of 33.5%, the highest in the nation.  It also has the highest rate of diabetes — 17.4%.  West Virginia also ranked second worst with regards to basic access, implying that residents have poor access to clean water, medicine, affordable healthy foods, healthcare, shelter, and other basic needs.

Charles B. Stockdale, Douglas A. McIntyre