What a beautiful week full of sunlight!

It feels as though the clear days are finally here, which is fantastic…because that means more sunshine!

Sunshine makes us feel good. Productive. It gives us that much-needed shot of Vitamin D to boost our moods and health. So the opportunity to grab all of that just by stepping outside and into the sunshine for 20 minutes a day feels like a fairly easy thing to do.

However, sometimes it seems as though Midwesterners are at an unfair disadvantage, compared to our brighter neighbors. Take Florida, for example: the Sunshine State. Those people are soaking up the rays year-round!

Right?

Well, maybe not.

How much sunlight do we get?

Recently, we looked at the state-by-state percentage of sunlight breakdown according to the National Climatic Data Center and the World Data Center for Meteorology.

These statistics pull together numbers on the amount of sunshine that each US state usually has in a year. That number is achieved by measuring the percentage of time between sunrise and sunset that sunshine reaches the ground.

All of the data is averaged based on several decades of weather measurements, in order to have a long-running comprehensive snapshot as opposed to, say, a single fluke season.

And guess what? Missouri and Arkansas easily held their own in the sunshine stats game. Missouri was handed a 60% score, while Arkansas slightly edged it with 61%.

Florida? Well, the Sunshine State scored…66%.

This study proves that the sun isn’t always brighter on the other side. Arguments in the Midwest about solar frequently center around the fact that we just aren’t as luminous as our coastal friends. Decades of vacation slideshows and social media posts have born that out…the sun always seems to be shining on our frolicking neighbors…on Spring Break, summer vacations, and even off-season holiday trips.

There are few photos that show families huddled in their motel rooms while the rain pounds outside.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, we should also mention that there are a couple of outliers, as studies tend to reveal. Arizona scored a crazy 85%, while its neighbor New Mexico coasted in at 76. But, come on. Those places are basically deserts. Who wants to gain a higher percentage if the act of spending time outside might burn your face off?

The Sun is Shining!

Long story short, rest assured, neighbors. We’re holding our own just fine here in the nation’s heartland. We have plenty of sunlight to sustain life, keep our greens green, and receive a fine return on investment should we choose to pursue any form of alternative energy, be it solar or wind.

So get out there this summer and get plenty of snaps of your family dancing around the kiddie pool. Let the sun work for YOU, whether that be free vitamin D, free antidepressant therapy, a free sun-kissed glow…or complete energy ownership.