Seven cities in California are among the top 15 happiest cities to live in the United States, according to a new study released Feb. 27 by WalletHub, a personal finance company.
The company rated three Northern California cities as the best places to live for emotional and physical wellbeing.
Fremont, in Northern California, topped the happiest list with nearby San Jose taking third. Both were also rated as the top two cities in the U.S. for emotional and physical well-being.
Irvine, in Orange County, placed fifth as happiest, followed by San Francisco in seventh place. The two cities placed fourth and third, respectively, for emotional and physical well-being.
Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, and San Diego placed 12th, 14th, and 15th as happiest, respectively.
A child plays on inflatable slides at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. (Courtesy of PSQ Productions)
Seven other California cities made it into the top 34, including Anaheim, at 25; Oakland, 26, Chula Vista, 27, Santa Rosa, 29, Santa Clarita, 30, Oxnard, 32; and Oceanside at 34.
Detroit, Michigan came in last place for happiness at 182.
WalletHub evaluated 182 of the largest cities in the United States based on 29 criteria and rated them in three categories: emotional and physical well-being; income and employment; and community and environment.
The criteria used to evaluate emotional and physical well-being included life expectancy, physical health, sports participation, adequate sleep, food insecurity, mental health, retail opioid users, marijuana users, depression and suicide rates, and life satisfaction.
“Money can buy happiness to a certain degree because a stable income is essential for a person’s physical and mental well-being. However, plenty of other factors affect happiness as well, and the happiest cities combine economic security with kind communities and conditions that are conducive to low depression rates and high life satisfaction,” Cassandra Happe, a WalletHub analyst, wrote about the company’s findings.
