Montana Has A Happiness Problem, According To This New Ranking

How Happy Are Montana Residents? A New Ranking Has An Answer

Montana residents like to think of themselves as pretty lucky. I mean, we live in a place we call "The Last Best Place."

Between the mountains, lakes, wide-open spaces, plenty of outdoor activities, and enough room between houses that you don't have to know what your neighbor is doing every five minutes, you'd think we'd be some of the happiest people in America. Turns out, we're not.

New Ranking Suggests Montana Isn't as Happy as We Think

WalletHub recently released its 2026 ranking of the happiest states, and Montana landed in the bottom half of the country.

The study looks at 30 different factors involving emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and community and environment.

And Montana's results are pretty interesting, to say the least.

When it comes to work, Montana ranks among the best states in the country for its work environment, coming in at #7. That feels pretty appropriate for a state where people are still willing to get up before sunrise and go move cows around.

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Montana's Ranking Comes With Plenty Of Caveats

We're also doing pretty well when it comes to community and environment.The problem is emotional and physical well-being, where Montana scores near the bottom nationally.

So, reading this, it sounds like we love where we live and work, but we just aren't regularly happy people?

Before you start packing your bags and leaving the Treasure State, maybe take a look at where our neighbors ranked. And remember, this is just one study using a bunch of different measurements to decide how happy an entire state is.

Still, I'm starting to wonder if maybe Montana just needs to stop answering surveys.