In a study just published by the UK's University of Warwick and Hamilton College Idaho was ranked the 14th happiest state in the US. The researchers used the happiness levels of a million individual US citizens to discover which are the best and worst states in which to live in the United States.

The study found a quantifiable correlation between objective quality of life factors such as air quality and congestion and the subjective opinions of those that live in the subject states. This correlation was made possible by a study by Stuart Gabriel and colleagues from UCLA published in 2003 which considered objective indicators for each individual State of the USA such as: precipitation; temperature; wind speed; sunshine; coastal land; inland water; public land; National Parks; hazardous waste sites; environmental ‘greenness'; commuting time; violent crime; air quality; student-teacher ratio; local taxes; local spending on education and highways; cost of living.

That study is titled COMPENSATING DIFFERENTIALS AND EVOLUTION OF THE QUALITY-OF-LIFE AMONG U.S. STATES, and the full study can be read here.

Idaho has grown with its popularity of spectacular outdoors life, which was a factor in actually causing the state to decline slightly in its quality of life. This is due to more people chosing the state as their home because of that high quality of life. However, I read the piece, and statistically its factors remained virtually unchanged in the study period.

The researchers used the 2005 - 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System random sample of 1.3 million United States citizens in which life-satisfaction in each U.S. state was measured.

The combination of the two studies gave a quantifiable measure of how happy people are in each state.

My home state of Louisiana was ranked Number 1, while the state I moved to Idaho from, Florida, was ranked Number 3. People who know me consider me perhaps the happiest person they know. As for Louisiana being first, that comes as no surprise to this writer. The rest of the world flocks to Louisiana to holiday, and we are known for our parties and love of life. In fact, Sandpoint, Idaho, my current home town, has its own Winter Carnival and Mardi Gras, and if Idaho is among the happiest places in the US, Sandpoint has to be the happiest place in Idaho.

A very good article on the study was posted in this Warwick Press Release.

Most of us up here in North Idaho are happy as a peach. This study only confirms what we already knew. Idaho is a great place to live, with sunshine and snow skiing, outdoors fun and fêtes, wonderful people, and is one of the happiest places in the United States.

Gary Lirette, REALTOR® & host of the radio shows North Idaho Business as well as North Idaho Arts on KSPT & KBFI in Sandpoint & Bonners Ferry. When you need your real estate questions answered...

E-mail Gary or call 208-610-1384

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