California Cities Ranked Happiest In U.S.

CALIFORNIA – Location plays a role in determining a person’s happiness and so it makes sense that some of the giddiest cities in the country featured in a new set of rankings are in sunny California. The California cities ranked among the top of WalletHub’s rankings of happiest cities in the U.S.

In fact, nearly a quarter California cities ranked among the top 100 happiest cities in the U.S., including four in the top 10. Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area topped the list, coming in as the happiest city in the country.

To come up with the rankings, WalletHub compared 182 of the largest American cities, including the 150 most populated cities in every state. WalletHub also included at least two of the most populated cities in each state in its analysis. The cities were evaluated across three categories: emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment.

The three categories were evaluated across 28 metrics using data from government and private agencies. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

These are the cities from California that made the rankings. National rankings are in parenthesis:

1. Fremont (1)
2. San Jose (3)
3. Irvine (8)
4. Huntington Beach (9)
5. San Francisco (13)
6. Santa Clarita (16)
7. Glendale (17)
8. Oakland (18)
9. Santa Rosa (22)
10. Garden Grove (27)
11. Anaheim (29)
12. San Diego (32)
13. Chula Vista (35)
14. Rancho Cucamonga (36)
15. Oceanside (43)
16. Oxnard (53)
17. Fontana (67)
18. Long Beach (70)
19. Santa Ana (71)
20. Los Angeles (75)
21. Riverside (79)
22. Moreno Valley (82)
23. Ontario (85)
24. Modesto (100)
25. Sacramento (114)
26. Bakersfield (125)
27. San Bernardino (128)
28. Fresno (146)
29. Stockton (154)

According to WalletHub, the 10 happiest cities in the U.S. are:

1. Fremont, California
2. Bismarck, North Dakota
3. San Jose, California
4. Pearl City, Hawaii
5. Plano, Texas
6. Fargo, North Dakota
7. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
8. Irvine, California
9. Huntington Beach, California
10. Grand Prairie, Texas

The rankings also include the glummest cities. They are:

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. Huntington, West Virginia
4. Gulfport, Mississippi
5. Little Rock, Arkansas
6. Charleston, West Virginia
7. Wilmington, Delaware
8. Mobile, Alabama
9. Columbus, Georgia
10. Cleveland, Ohio

WalletHub asked a panel of experts to explain why where a person lives has such an influence on happiness. Here’s what one expert had to say:

“This comes down to a person’s interests and values,” writes Sarah Collins, director of the college to career center at Doane University in Nebraska. “If you love spending time outdoors, then living in a place with a temperate climate could make you happier, as it would allow you to fulfill this interest more often. If family is very important to you, then being close to them, wherever they are, might make you happier.”

See the full rankings here.

Image via Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com