America's unhappiest state REVEALED: How depression, divorce, and stress affect these 4.6M Southerners

It's famed for its nightlife, a vibrant music scene, spicy cuisine and the raucous costumed parades of Mardi Gras. A mother and daughter languish in Louisiana, where cancer-causing pollutants gave Asanta Mackey, then aged five, a persistent cough Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennessee, and New Mexico rounded out the five unhappiest states in the nation. Joe Moretz, who is homeless, sits with his dog Foxy by a boarded up store in the French Quarter of New Orleans, in another indicator of the state's poverty levels Sadly, the Mardi Gras costumed parade through New Orleans only comes once a year to raise the spirits of the state's troubled residents Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hawaii ranked as the state with the most satisfied residents Louisiana also ranks has having among the lowest income levels in the nation Louisiana recorded among the worst scores across the board, including painfully long working hours, and miserably high rates of divorce. The state's 4.6 million residents regularly talk up its strengths — how New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and the fusion of flavors that makes Creole cuisine unique. WalletHub's findings echo those from a recent Louisiana State University study, which found that most residents said the state was heading in the wrong direction.