Mexico’s happiest citizens live in Hidalgo; Coahuila offers best quality of life

Published October 11th, 2021

Hidalgo is Mexico’s happiest state, while residents of Coahuila are most likely to be satisfied with their quality of life, a survey indicates.

The firm Arias Consultores polled 15,635 Mexicans via social media in late August, asking them to rate their happiness, quality of life, and wellbeing.

When asked to consider all aspects of their lives, almost seven in 10 Hidalgo residents – 69.1% – said they were happy, a higher percentage of residents of any other state. Only 2% of hidalguenses said they were unhappy, while the remaining 28.9% described their state of mind as “neutral.”

The percentage of happy hidalguenses rose 11.7% compared to the previous poll conducted a month earlier but Arias Consultores gave no reason for the spike. However, happiness levels may have dropped in September because parts of the state suffered severe flooding. Results of the firm’s September survey haven’t yet been released.

The second happiest state was Durango, where 64.2% of residents declared themselves happy. Tamaulipas, a state better known for violence than happiness, ranked third, followed by Tlaxcala and Sinaloa. More than 60% of poll respondents from each of those states said they were happy.

Mexico’s least happy state, the poll found, is Nayarit, where just 34.5% of residents are happy. Puebla, Morelos, and San Luis Potosí were the only other states where fewer than 40% of respondents said they were happy.

Among all poll respondents, 49.5% said they were happy, 42.7% said their state of mind was neutral and 7.8% said they were unhappy.

Asked to rate their quality of life, 63.1% of Coahuila residents said it was good, a 15.2% increase compared to the previous poll.

The only other states where at least six in 10 residents said their quality of life was good were Durango (61.6%) and Oaxaca (60.4%). Ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, were Tamaulipas and Hidalgo, where just under 59% of respondents said they had a good quality of life.

At the bottom of the list was Chiapas – Mexico’s poorest state – where just 29.2% of respondents said the quality of life was good. Other states where fewer than 35% of residents said they had a good quality of life were Puebla, México state, Zacatecas, and Nayarit.

Across Mexico, 43.9% of respondents said they had a good quality of life, 48.7% said it was regular and 7.4% said it was bad.

Finally, Arias Consultores asked Facebook users to rate their general wellbeing. Querétaro came out on top with 62% of residents saying it was good. Sinaloa ranked second at 59.9% followed by Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Sonora, where more than 55% of residents rated their wellbeing as good.

Just 30.2% of respondents from both Zacatecas and Nayarit described their wellbeing as good, the lowest rates in the country. Puebla had the third-worst rate at 33.1% and Guerrero and Morelos ranked fourth and fifth last, respectively, with rates in the mid-30s.

Across Mexico, 44.3% of respondents described their wellbeing as good, 48% said it was regular and 7.7% said it was bad.

Published earlier this year, the United Nations’ World Happiness Report said Mexico was the 46th happiest country in the world, a decline of 23 places compared to the previous report.