The sun sets behind mountains on New Year's Eve in Honolulu. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 Which state's residents are most fulfilled? 
 
 Hawaii's, of course. The island — often compared to paradise — scores highest on a new ranking of states by residents' well-being. But, if that was obvious, the state that ranked second may not be: it's ice-cold Alaska. 
 
 That's according to the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a ranking that seeks to capture how residents of each state feel about their sense of purpose and community, social and financial status and physical health. The ranking is based on more than 175,000 telephone interviews of adults conducted throughout 2015. 
 
 Nationally, America's well-being was statistically the same between 2014 and 2015. 
 
 That's not to say attitudes aren't improving. Financial well-being rose and American perceptions and ratings of their lives reached an all-time high. At the same time, food and health-care insecurity and smoking rates fell. 
 
 But there is some backsliding, too. Obesity continued to climb and more part-time employees were seeking full-time work. 
 
 In the end, the West won out, claiming all but two of the top 10 spots. The South dominated the bottom of the list, claiming all but three of the bottom 10. 
 
 Hawaii returned to its top ranking — a title it has held five times since 2008. Alaska fell one spot to second place, followed by Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. 
 
 Delaware scored highest by sense of purpose; South Carolinians were most socially fulfilled; Alaskans felt most financially secure; Montanans were happiest with their sense of community; and Hawaii scored highest by physical well-being. 
 
 West Virginia ranked dead last, just behind Kentucky. (Both states have brought up the rear since 2008.) Oklahoma was next. Ohio and Indiana tied for 47th place, just behind Missouri. 
 
 Alabama was most improved, rising 18 spots from the year before. 
 
 The most-improved states. (Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index) 
 
 Vermont fell hardest, dropping 16 spots. ||||| Move over, Hawaii. North Dakota is now the happiest state in the union. 
 
 For the first time in five years, Hawaii does not rank highest in Gallup's annual well-being poll. Instead, North Dakota takes the top spot, with a well-being score of 70.4 out of 100, according to a new report released today (Feb. 20) by the polling agency. 
 
 A state known for icy winters and oil drilling may seem like an odd candidate for the happiest place to live, especially compared to tropical Hawaii, but the upset came as no surprise to Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. 
 
 "Historically, it's had a lot of top-10 rankings," Witters told Live Science, referring to North Dakota. "It's never been No. 1, but it's been way up there." [See List of Happiest and Saddest US States of 2013] 
 
 Aloha, Hawaii 
 
 Gallup's state rankings come from surveys of more than 176,000 Americans, including some from every state; the organization has released results annually since 2008. Survey participants answer questions about six measures of well-being: life evaluation (how people feel they're doing currently, and how they expect to do in five years); emotional health (how many positive and negative emotions they experienced in the past day); work environment (how happy they are at work and with their relationship with their bosses); physical health (including obesity and illnesses); healthy behaviors (how well people eat and how often they exercise); and basic access to food, shelter, clean water and medical care. 
 
 Hawaii has often led the pack, but in 2013, the state saw big drops in workplace satisfaction, Witters said. Specifically, Hawaiians were less likely than in previous years to say their boss treated them like a partner or created a trusting working environment. People's evaluation of their futures became less optimistic, and they felt more daily stress, anger and worry than in previous years. 
 
 Nevertheless, residents of the Aloha State need not despair. The state still ranks in the top 10 (at No. 8) and is well above average in providing residents with the basics, including health insurance. Ninety-two percent of Hawaiians have health coverage, Witters said, second only to Massachusetts' 95 percent. [7 Things That Will Make You Happy] 
 
 "It's not all bad news for Hawaii," Witters said. "In a lot of really important ways, they actually have demonstrated improvement." 
 
 North Dakota rises 
 
 North Dakota is strong across all six categories and is No. 1 for both work environment and physical health, Witters said. The Bakken oil boom, which has led to an influx of residents to the Peace Garden State, may have contributed to these ratings, he said, though the Gallup data isn't designed to analyze the causes of changes in well-being. Low unemployment caused by the boom could contribute to well-being in the form of financial security or access to health insurance, Witters said. 
 
 Well-being in the United States is also regional, with Plains states and the Mountain West strongly represented in the top 10, Witters said. South Dakota trailed North Dakota by only 0.4 points in the 2013 rankings, followed by Nebraska. Minnesota, Montana, Vermont, Colorado, Hawaii, Washington and Iowa rounded out the top 10. 
 
 At the bottom of the pack were the "usual suspects," Witter said. West Virginia came in dead last, as it has for five years running. Other bottom-10 states were also mostly in the South or industrial Midwest: Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Ohio, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma and Louisiana. 
 
 Trending states 
 
 The rankings show that being "easy on the eyes" isn't the only thing that matters for happiness, Witters said. California, for example, is a much-loved tourist destination but ranks pretty consistently at the lower end of the top third. (This year, it's number 17.) Nebraska, on the other hand, is on few must-see lists but constantly ranks among the top 10 states for well-being. 
 
 Since 2010, the first full year after the Great Recession's end, 11 states have improved in well-being every year: Nevada, Montana, Vermont, Nebraska, Iowa, Maine, Arizona, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Texas and California. Of those, Montana, Vermont, Nebraska and Iowa are especially noteworthy for being top-10 states still making gains, Witters said. 
 
 Several factors distinguished high-well-being states from their struggling counterparts, Witters said. People in happy states are healthier, smoke less and report learning new things every day. They have safe places to exercise and feel they are partners to, not underlings of, their bosses. They also take better care of their teeth. Access to dentistry, Witters said, is a strong predictor of health and well-being. 
 
 Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. ||||| Alaska edged out Hawaii and is now at the top of the rankings of the nation's happiest states for the first time. 
 
 The nation's largest and most northern state scored highest in the 2014 Gallup-Healthways' annual survey of well-being, with a score of 64.7 out of 100. Alaska has previously ranked among the top 10 happiest states, but this is the first year it has been the winner since the survey began in 2008. 
 
 In second place was Hawaii, which held the top spot from 2009 to 2012, but in 2013 came in eighth. The winner in 2013, North Dakota, saw a dramatic drop in its ranking, coming in 23rd in 2014. This drop was mostly due to a decline in North Dakotans' evaluation of their lives overall, and also an increase in unhealthy behaviors among the population, such as higher smoking rates and less exercise, compared with 2013, Gallup said. 
 
 The rankings are based on interviews with more than 176,000 U.S. adults in all 50 states. The researchers calculated a well-being score for each state, based on participants' answers to questions about different aspects of well-being, such as their sense of purpose, social relationships, financial lives, community involvement and physical health. [The Happiest States in 2014: Full List] 
 
 States in the Northern Plains and Mountain West tended to have higher well-being scores than states in the South and Midwest. Kentucky and West Virginia came in at the bottom of the rankings for the sixth year in a row, Gallup said. 
 
 A population's well-being is important because it is closely tied to people's health and work abilities, such as obesity rates, workplace performance and employee engagement, Gallup said. 
 
 States can implement initiatives to improve specific aspects of their residents' well-being — for example, they can work with schools, grocery stores and restaurants to include more wholesome food options, and they can work with the government and other entities to make changes that may improve community life, such as making areas more walkable or increasing the number of social activities, Gallup said. 
 
 The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was conducted between Jan. 2 and Dec. 30, 2014, and its well-being score has a margin of error of about 0.1 percentage points. 
 
 Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
– Gallup is out with its annual poll trying to rank that most intangible of factors—a sense of "well-being"—in the US states. To do so, it questioned more than 177,000 people on topics ranging from having a sense of purpose to community to physical and financial health. Your winner? Yes, Hawaii. Generally speaking, the West is the most fulfilled region, claiming eight of the top 10 spots, while the South has seven of the bottom 10, notes the Washington Post. Here are the top and bottom five performers in the State of American Well-Being: Top five (in order): Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming. Bottom five: Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Dig in to more results here.