The Heartland of America is the happiest place to live in the country, according to a "happiness index" recently published by Mainstreet.com.

The first-of-its-kind index looks at household income, debt, employment and foreclosures state-by-state.

The study found the happiest states living with in their means are: Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas.

The saddest states? Oregon, Florida and California.

And there's a good reason for the disparity.

The manager of Mainstreet.com tells ABC, "on the coasts, in New York and California, we have a lot of people living beyond their means. But in the Midwest, that's often not the case."