We already know about New York's high taxes and cost of living. We were reminded recently about New York again being among the states with the most outmigration. And the New York weather sure can get us down, especially this time of the year. New York has its challenges.

But another study may strike to the very core of our collective unhappiness in the Empire State. The results are in from the Gallup Poll's National Health and Well-Being Index. And the news is not good for New York. Our state ranked in the bottom third across a wide series of indices for well-being.

In fact, New York finished 37th overall and near the bottom in a couple of categories.

The Empire State's worst performances were in the Career (46th), Financial (41st) and Community (43rd) columns.

Here are the descriptions of each area from the Gallup study:

  • Career: liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
  • Social: having supportive relationships and love in your life
  • Financial: managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
  • Community: liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community
  • Physical: having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

On the bright side, New York faired better in Social (29th) and Physical (22nd) matters.

As for the extremes from the study, Hawaii came out on top in well-being for a record-7th time, while West Virginia was dead-last.

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