Who knew that being the happiest city in America was, well, a thing?
But apparently it’s a hotly contested race, with multiple different research organizations making their calls on which municipality deserves the crown.
In the last 10 months, we’ve had no fewer than three proud proclamations of what city tops the happiness scale. And those are probably just the ones that didn’t end up in our spam folder!
In all three cases, a Bay Area city has taken the prize — showing that, without a doubt, these results are 100 percent scientifically accurate and do not deserve any degree of scrutiny whatsoever.
The latest winner is — drum roll, please — Sunnyvale, the high-tech mecca that many consider to be the birthplace of the video game industry (since Atari was founded in the city in 1972). Equally important, it’s where you’ll find Comics Conspiracy and Falafel Stop — two mighty sources of joy and happiness, for sure.
Although, from what we can tell, “Kamandi” back issues and amazing hummus did not factor into this research study conducted by the folks at the financial website SmartAsset.
Instead, researchers looked at other types of indicators when analyzing the 200 largest cities in America — 164 of which had available data.
“We looked at 13 different metrics across three categories: personal finance, well-being and quality of life,” according to the report.
And why did Sunnyvale beat out the other 199 to take the title?
“Well-being and quality of life is where Sunnyvale, California, ranks best,” according to the report. “The city has the highest percentage of individuals earning $100,000 or more (62.5%), the third-lowest percentage of adults living below the poverty-level (roughly 5%) and the fifth-highest marriage rate (56.8%). Violent crime in the area is also low (it ranked 9th) with roughly 149 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.”
Of course, all of this very confusing since the folks at Wallethub.com reported that Fremont was the happiest place in the U.S. early in 2022. Then, a few months later, a site called Housefresh.com told us that Concord ranked as the No. 1 happy spot in America.
It just makes one wonder when Belmont might get its turn.
Although falling short of the top spot, Fremont still placed at No. 4 on the list — behind Sunnyvale, Arlington, Virginia, and Bellevue, Washington, respectively.
“Fremont, California ranks No. 3 for both its high percentage of individuals earning $100,000 or more (55.4%) and its low living costs relative to income (32.17%),” according to the report. “The city also ranks No. 2 for both the percentage of adults who live below the poverty-level (4.9%) and its marriage rate (61.6%).”
San Jose was the other Bay Area city to make the SmartAsset Top 10, ranking in at No. 9.
“Roughly 43% of San Jose, California, residents earn $100,000 or more (10th-highest) and less than 7.4% live in poverty (eighth-lowest),” the report reads. “Additionally, Santa Clara County — where San Jose is located — takes the No. 2 spot for both the percentage of residents reporting poor mental health days (10%) and life expectancy (84.7 years).”
California definitely corners the market when it comes to happiness — something that Beach Boys fans have known all along. With the ranking of Roseville at No. 7 and Santa Clarita at No. 9, 50 percent of the entries in the top 10 are cities from the Golden State.
But enough about happiness. Let’s change our focus to misery for a moment and find out what city came in last on the list.
“Birmingham is the least happy city,” SmartAsset.com reports. “This Alabama city ranks in the bottom five across metrics such as personal bankruptcy filings per capita, life expectancy and the percentage of residents living in poverty. Newark, New Jersey, and Memphis, Tennessee, follow as the second- and third-least happy cities.”
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