Happiness may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about New Jersey.
But according a new survey, it's actually the fourth happiest state in the country, falling just behind Hawaii, Maryland and Nebraska.
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Pennsylvania's happiness ranking was more middling, coming in at No. 18, just behind … Iowa.
The report, published Monday by the personal finance company WalletHub, used three main categories to compare and contrast the 50 states. These included emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and community and environment. The analysis took 30 factors into account, including depression and suicide levels, longterm unemployment rate, divorce rate and safety.
New Jersey had the highest ranking for emotional and physical well-being, with the lowest rates of depression and suicide and the second lowest divorce rate.
But New Jersey didn't fare so well in the work environment category, landing 23rd on the list, and it came in even lower for community and environment, ranking 36th.
Pennsylvania ranked 14th spot for emotional and physical well-being, 31st for work environment and 16th for community and environment.
West Virginia registered as the least happiest state, ranking 50th for emotional and physical well-being, 50th for work environment and 27th for community and environment.
Hawaii, deemed the happiest state, had the highest levels of life satisfaction and the second lowest depression rate. The vast majority of adults in Hawaii reported being physically active and in good health. Hawaii also had the lowest unemployment rate and the longest life-expectancy rate.
Jeanette Bennett, associate professor of psychological science at the University of North Carolina, acknowledged, however, that happiness is a "perception," that it is "deeply individualistic" with "very few universal rules" – except for when it comes to health.
"Poor physical or mental health limits a person's ability to pursue activities that bring fulfillment and purpose," Bennett said in a release.
WalletHub used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Feeding America, Gallup, TransUnion, AmeriCorps and other sources.