The study evaluated such factors as how well-being varies by state and which states do better or worse in each of the five elements of well-being, which the study defined as follows:

• Purpose—liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals

• Social—having supportive relationships and love in your life

• Financial—managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security

• Community—liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community

• Physical—having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

Interestingly, among the findings is that income correlates to well-being only up to a point: beyond $75,000 per year, there's not much effect on a worker's well-being for the better. Instead, that limit suggests that subsistence earnings are crucial to well-being, but once workers have reached the point of comfort and sustainability, what has a bigger effect on their well-being is using discretionary income for charitable giving, social context and experiences.

Related: 10 worst states for well-being in retirement

In fact, the analysis indicates that the two actions having the most effect on financial well-being are spending on others or contributing to charities, rather than spending on oneself. In addition, other effects on well-being overall also comes from spending on experiences, such as time out with friends or vacations with family. Spending a substantial amount of time socially each day creates more enjoyable and less stressful days, a finding that is true across levels of income.

The Well-Being Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where zero represents the lowest possible well-being and 100 represents the highest possible well-being. Scores for each of the well-being elements are also calculated on a 0-to-100 scale. States are then divided into quintiles reflecting how high, or low, they finished on the well-being index.

Here are the 10 states that ranked highest in well-being.

10. Texas, 63.1

Texans have purpose. That category won a 1^st-place ranking for the state, which didn't have a single ranking below the third quintile.

Its social well-being rank was 8^th, while physical was 17^th, community was 20^th and financial, the laggard, came in at 32^nd.

9. Minnesota, 63.2

Minnesota did best in financial well-being, with a ranking of 6^th place. Second best was its community ranking, at 9^th.

Physical netted the state an 11^th-place finish, while purpose came in 24^th and social was 44^th.

8. Montana, 63.2

The Big Sky Country did pretty well for itself, coming in with a ranking of 3 for community and a 10 for purpose.

After that, it drops a bit, though, with a ranking of 13 for financial well-being, 28 for social well-being and 33 for physical well-being.

7. Arizona, 63.4

Arizona gets high marks for purpose, with a ranking of 2, and a social ranking of 3.

When it comes to physical well-being, the state got a ranking of 10, while community came in at 19 and financial well-being dropped to 23.

6. Vermont, 63.5

Vermonters must do a lot of their own snow shoveling, since the state got a 2 in physical well-being. And they probably hang out together while they're doing it, because it also got a 5 for social well-being and an 8 for community.

The state also got a 30 for purpose but only a 38 for financial well-being (maybe those who have to pay to have all that snow shoveled).

5. Colorado, 63.5

Colorado also ranked high up on the physical well-being chart, with a 3. But community was a 14, purpose was 18 and social was 21.

Its financial well-being was a 19.

4. Maine, 63.6

Maine residents do pretty well physically, too, ranking 4^th in well-being, while community well-being is an 11 and social well-being is 18.

Purpose is ranked 23^rd, and financial well-being is 10^th.

3. South Dakota, 63.7

South Dakota, the study said, has a track record of high levels of well-being. It came in with a ranking of 2 for community, 3 for financial, and 8 for purpose well-being.

Physical well-being came in at 16, while social well-being rated 29.

2. Alaska, 64.0

Another consistently high-place finisher, Alaska came in at second place by having a social well-being ranking of 1 and a financial well-being ranking of 2.

It also nabbed a 5 for purpose and a 6 for community, while physical well-being took last place at 16.

1. Hawaii, 65.2

The Aloha State's Well-Being Index score is not only the top this year, but it's the highest such score for any state in the last three years.

It also led the nation in financial, community and physical well-being, with 1s in each category. Purpose had to settle for a 12, while social was a dismal (for Hawaii) 46.