Report shows West Virginia to be the ‘least happy’ state in the nation

By Matthew Young, RealWV

As The RealWV continues to examine West Virginia’s overall rankings within the country, a new report from Newsweek shows the Mountain State to be the “least happy” of its 49 counterparts.  

Previously, RealWV has looked at West Virginia’s SAT scores, firearm death and overdose rates, infrastructure, and attractivity to business – all of which are among the worst in the nation. Our earlier reporting can be viewed here:

•  New study shows West Virginia to be among the worst states for infrastructure, attractivity to business 
• Research shows West Virginia has lowest SAT scores in the nation, higher firearm death rate than New York and Illinois

The study, which was conducted by the Columbia Business School, used 31 metrics, – including the availability of quality healthcare, crime rates, community environment, job security, work environment, and physical and emotional wellbeing – to determine rankings. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) further adds that a significant amount of West Virginias – some 27.5% – have been diagnosed as suffering from adult depression. 

Financial stability, or the lack thereof, was a dominant theme across all of West Virginia’s metrics. And with more than a third of the state’s workforce currently earning less than $17 per hour, that trend is unlikely to change in the near future. 

According to the Visual Capitalist, West Virginia’s 35% ranks its workforce 47 out of the 50 states with regard to employees earning less than $17 per hour. The state’s low earnings would seem to have a direct correlation to its equally unflattering 40th-place ranking for four-year college graduation rates. 

In some areas, West Virginia seems to be following suit with the country as a whole. The recently released “World Happiness Report” – prepared through a partnership of the Oxford Wellbeing Research Center, the United Nations, and Gallop – shows the United States has dropped from being the 15th happiest nation in 2023, to being the 23rd.happiest in 2024.