Some people might say that Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth, but Fremont, California seems to be the happiest city to live in. WalletHub’s 2023 Happiest Cities in America Report lists this place as the happiest in the country. It is in the Bay Area, about 28 miles from San Francisco.
WalletHub “leaned on the different results of positive psychology research to find which of more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities is home to the happiest people in America” to find the happiest cities in the U.S. The study looked at 30 important factors that affect happiness. These included the rate of sadness, the rate of income growth, and the amount of free time people spent each day on average.
It turned out that Fremont had the lowest rate of sadness, at 11.9%. That was 2.5 times lower than Huntington, West Virginia, which had the highest rate, at 30.1%. Also, only 9.02% of people in the city were separated or divorced. That’s 4.6 times less than the highest divorce rate in Ohio, which was 41.59% in Cleveland.
The Most Positive City in United States
Not only is Fremont the happiest place in the West, but eight other cities made the top 10 list, which you can see below:
- Fremont, California
- San Jose, California
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Overland Park, Kansas
- San Francisco, California
- Irvine, California
- Columbia, Maryland
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- South Burlington, Vermont
- Burlington, Vermont
Most likely, you live in Fremont, California, if you’re happy and know it. As of Monday, WalletHub’s new study showed that the Bay Area city is the best place to live in the United States. Five of the top fifteen spots were taken by towns in California. San Jose came in fifth, Santa Rosa came in tenth, Irvine came in twelfth, and San Francisco came in thirteenth.
With “positive psychology research” as its background, the free credit score and report site looked at 31 key signs to find the city with the happiest people in the United States out of more than 180.
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Third place went to Fargo, North Dakota, followed by Madison, Wisconsin, in fourth place. Sixth place went to South Burlington, Vermont, followed by Lincoln, Nebraska, in seventh place. Eighth place went to Columbia, Maryland, followed by Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in ninth place. Eleventh place went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, followed by Pearl City, Hawaii, in fourteenth place.
She said in a statement, “Happiness, like many mood states, will be affected by person and environment.” Dr. Sharon Glazer is a psychologist at the University of Baltimore. “Some aspects of happiness are about a person’s general disposition to see the silver lining in events…and some aspects are based on context.”
So, the study put the indicators into three main groups. Fremont was at the top of the list for both mental and physical health. At the same time, Burlington had the most income and jobs, and Rapid City, South Dakota, had the best society and environment. This year, COVID-19 measures were also added. The average number of COVID-19 deaths and cases per person were two of the most important ones.