A city in California has been declared the USA’s happiest place to live for the third year running, meaning that there must be something in the water around those parts that keeps the residents jolly.
It’s worth pointing out at the start here that ‘happiness’ is a pretty nebulous and completely non-scientific measure, but one that people use all the time to pit places against each other.
We’ve all heard that the Scandinavian countries tend to be amongst the ‘happiest’ nations on the planet, but what exactly is considered when measuring that?
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Hell, people even call Disneyland the ‘happiest place on earth’ but it would be absolute hell for some other people, so we can’t hang our hat on these sorts of proclamations definitively.
Anyway, this particular happiness contest was organised by personal finance website WalletHub, who put the northern Californian city of Fremont atop their 2023 Happiest Cities in America ranking.
They had a look at more than 180 cities across these United States and took 30 key indicators into account when making this decision.
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Amongst those factors considered were things like income-growth rate and depression rate, and when everything was totted up Fremont sat at the very top for the third year on the bounce.
As vague and superfluous as these things are, hitting the top of the charts three years consecutively suggests that Fremont must have something going on.
The city has the lowest depression rate, as well as the lowest separation and divorce rate, which were amongst the things considered for the ranking.
There were a number of other Californian cities towards the summit of the list as well, with San Jose placing second and San Francisco sitting in fifth place.
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In third came the city of Madison in Wisconsin, with Overland Park in Kansas sitting fourth.
Of course, all of these places will have their problems – as all cities do – but it’s just a bit of fun, right?
Well, it is if you’re up towards the top of the table.
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Down right at the bottom of the list was Detroit, Michigan - they came in 182nd place, ranking as the least happy city in America.
On the page with the full ranking – which you can view here – the company explained: “It can be hard to be happy in 2023 when faced with economic difficulties like high inflation, which is a source of stress for over 83 percent of adults.
“Therefore, it’s vital for people to boost their happiness however they can, whether through family, friends, activities, entertainment or work.
“What people might not realize is that where they live may also determine how happy they are. Location plays a hand in how bright or gloomy our days are.
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“For years, researchers have studied the science of happiness and found that its key ingredients include a positive mental state, healthy body, strong social connections, job satisfaction and financial well-being.
“However, money can only make you so happy – people who make $75,000 a year won’t get any higher satisfaction from more money."
They continued: “Consider also the fact that while the US is one of the richest countries, it ranks only 16th on the World Happiness Report.
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"But not everywhere in the US experiences a uniform level of happiness. As this study aims to illustrate, moving to a certain city may help you be more content."
“WalletHub drew upon the various findings of positive-psychology research in order to determine which among more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities is home to the happiest people in America.
“We examined each city based on 30 key indicators of happiness, ranging from the depression rate to the income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day.”
Have a look for yourself to see where your city came, but remember – it’s not just about where you live.
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It’s perfectly possible to be sad and unhappy in Fremont, California, the same as it’s possible to live a completely happy and fulfilled life in Detroit, Michigan.
Topics: US News, Life, Mental Health, Health
Tom Wood