Oregonians don’t seem to be very happy according to a new study put out by WalletHub recently. Now we are not talking about how much money people in Oregon make, how many toys that they have or how big their home is, it’s about key factors that determine happiness outside of things that are considered to be temporary.

Oregonians Aren’t Very Happy

The study by WalletHub ranked peoples happiness and the factors that contribute to that happiness, based on the state they live in. Oregon was ranked the 39th happiest state and we don’t know about you but we were pretty surprised at the poor showing. Being Oregonians, many of us view our state as one of the best places in the United States, so when we come across a study that ranks our beloved state as one of the less desirable places to live, it certainly gets our attention.

About The Study

WalletHub drew on past research into happiness to establish a list of criteria to be used in their research. Evaluation of one’s overall well-being, life satisfaction as well as good economic, emotional, physical and social health was also considered to be key factors of a well-balanced and fulfilled life. These factors were broken into 31 key metrics used to examine people from all 50 states, which also included things such as depression and sports participation rates, income growth and a myriad of additional insights.

Oregon Ranked 39th Happiest State

So based on the research, Oregon has ranked as the 39th happiest state. Oregon’s overall score was set at a discouraging 44.95, compared with the happiest state of Hawaii, which achieved an overall score of 66.48. Looking at these two number doesn’t seem too bad when you compare the near 45 with the 66 score for Hawaii, but there was more to the score than just the final number.

The three additional rank factors which were scored by the WalletHub study were Emotional and Physical Well-Being Rank, Work Environment Rank and Community and Environment Rank. So let’s break down how Oregon faired on these three key metrics.

In Emotional and Physical Well-Being Rank, Oregon ranked 44th out of the total 50 states, while the Work Environment Rank got an excellent rank of the 13th best state. Finally, the Community and Environment Rank got a mid-range state rank of 26th out of 50 states. These combine together to make Oregon the 39th happiest state in the country.

As a comparison, here are the top-ranked states for happiness in the country.

Are Oregonians Really Unhappy Though?

Let’s get real though, are Oregonians really unhappy? Are we filled with the 39th happiest people across this great land? We don’t think so.

Oregon is filled with some of the most beautiful scenic spaces in this country. We are blessed with amazing rivers and lakes, lush green forests and a coast that rivals any other state in this great union. But there are more things that Oregon is ranked highly for and we wanted to contrast this study with a few of these things.

Oregon Ranked Number 1 In Infrastructure

According to the 2018 report by USNews, Oregon ranked number 1 in the country for infrastructure, which includes energy, internet access, and transportation. We don’t know about you, but these definitely contribute to our happiness!

Portland, Oregon Ranked Number 2 Top Foodie City

Portland certainly doesn’t make up ALL of Oregon, but according to Best Places, our green-friendly city also has the largest number of vegetarian and vegan options for diners than any other state. These are some stats to make us very happy –  79.6% of restaurants are local, 46.6 breweries per million, 44.7 CSAs per million.

Best State To Drive In The USA

Based on a number of factors, the 2019 WalletHub study across all 50 states, including traffic, safety stats, cost of car ownership and maintenance ranked Oregon as the best state to drive in.

We could go on about being the number one state in the world for windsurfing in the Columbia River Gorge, how we have more llamas than any other state and how Portland has more breweries than any other city in the world, but we will not bother you with details.

The fact is that Oregon is a majestically beautiful place, with some of the best people we have ever met. People who are conscious about the world around them and people who treat our glorious state with care. We think we have some of the happiest people in the USA and we’d love to know what you think.