According to a 2010 Princeton study, the more money you make, the happier you are — to a point. At a certain income level, which this study estimated to be $75,000 a year, happiness plateaus and you don’t get any happier by making more.
However, when you look at the data state by state, the minimum amount differs because of cost of living. A recent analysis identifies the income level in each state that brings the most reported happiness…
Of course, money isn’t actually buying happiness so much as it’s buying a certain level of freedom from stress and anxiety.
This state-by-state analysis used the original Princeton study and adjusted the numbers to reflect actual costs in each state, since the original study’s $75,000 national threshold would obviously vary widely across the country based on cost of living.
Amazingly, the spread from the bottom state of Mississippi to the top state of Hawaii is $56,325…
(via Movoto, Huffington Post)
Of course, there are numerous other elements impacting happiness that this analysis couldn’t possibly cover, but it’s clear that money certainly doesn’t hurt.