If you’re ready to pack up the U-Haul and follow your bliss (or at least daydream for a few minutes), here’s your travel guide — WalletHub’s 2022 Happiest Cities report. After crunching the data on the 182 largest cities in America across three key dimensions — emotional and physical well-being, income and employment and community and environment, WalletHub designated Fremont, California, as 2022’s happiest city in the United States. Indeed, California cities claimed 6 out of the 10 top spots in the analysis.
Health, Happiness, and Financial Security Affect a City’s Happiness Quotient
Analysts drew upon current happiness research to come up with a system to rank cities. Key factors included good economic, emotional, physical, and social health, according to WalletHub, a website that offers free credit scores and full credit reports, as well as customized credit-improvement advice and wallet surveillance. A category termed “emotional and physical well-being” was the most heavily weighted factor in evaluating cities and included things like how people rated their life-satisfaction, the current depression and suicide rate, and the number of people who reported being in good physical health. Income and employment ratings were based on elements such as how many households earned $75,000 a year or more, poverty rate, job satisfaction, and unemployment rate. Finally, community and environment assessments considered factors such as “ideal weather,” separation and divorce rate, and hate crimes per capita.
The Top 10 Happiest Cities, According to WalletHub
Fremont is a city of about 235,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area. The median household income is $133,354 and the median listing home price is 1.3 million dollars, according to Realtor.com. The city enjoys an average of 264 sunny days a year (the national average is 205) and the temperature typically varies from 43 to 82 degrees F, according to U.S. Climate Data.
The ‘Least Happy’ Cities, According to Wallet Hub
Sleepless in Detroit
The analysis highlighted several key disparities between cities that can have an impact on health and overall well-being.
South Burlington, Vermont, has the lowest share of adults sleeping less than 7 hours per night, 28.50 percent, which is 1.8 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 51.40 percent. The average adult needs at least 7 hours of sleep per night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Pearl City, Hawaii, has the lowest depression rate, 12.70 percent, which is 2.3 times lower than in Huntington, West Virginia, the city with the highest at 29.70 percent.Newark, New Jersey, has the lowest number of suicides per 100,000 residents, 4.65, which is 6.8 times lower than in Rapid City, South Dakota, the city with the highest at 31.62.Fremont, California, has the lowest separation and divorce rate, 9.21 percent, which is 4.4 times lower than in Cleveland, the city with the highest at 40.77 percent.
How Much Does Where You Live Influence Your Happiness?
Recent research suggests that where you live significantly impacts your happiness in four key respects, said Kristie Campana, PhD, the director of the graduate program in industrial and organizational psychology at Minnesota State University in Mankato in a Q and A with WalletHub. “First is racial diversity — specifically, communities with a higher Black population show better well-being. Social and economic quality (such as high levels of education and low poverty) also influences well-being,” said Dr. Campana. The quality of healthcare also influences well-being, including access to preventive healthcare and adequate medical centers, she said. “The physical environment also matters — if people can enjoy the outdoors (even in a city) by using bike paths [and] parks, and when they have easy public transportation, they tend to do better,” said Campana.
