Low unemployment and poverty rates and increases in life expectancy and household income pushed Fairfax County and Loudoun County in Virginia to the top spots in SmartAsset’s ranking of the nation’s happiest counties.
The list was based on eight metrics, including divorce and marriage rates, measurements of physical activity, overall economic strength, and the ratio of median household income to cost of living.
Ozaukee County, Wis., Carver County, Minn., and Douglas County, Colo., rounded out the top five. Two New Jersey counties, Hunterdon and Morris, also made the top 10.
Fourteen of the bottom 20 places in our study are in Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. This is not the first time we have seen this trend so here’s to hoping the Deep South can make some changes for 2018.
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