The Happiest Cities in America, According to Residents
bz3rk / Flickr 50. Raleigh, North Carolina fotoguy22 / iStock via Getty Images 49. Springfield, Illinois Sean Pavone / Getty Images 48. Gainesville, Florida SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images 47. Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina Sean Pavone / iStock via Getty Images…
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the well-being of millions of people, happiness was not an easy measure to quantify because it is highly individual. What makes a person happy changes from one individual to the next, and a person’s happiness is influenced by different factors, depending on social, financial, and health status.
To identify the happiest cities in America, according to residents, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the happiness score of all 383 metro areas in the U.S. from digital health company Sharecare’s Community Well-Being Index.
The index measures whether individuals feel a sense of purpose, have supportive relationships, are financially secure, satisfied with their community, and are in good physical health. Sharecare surveyed more than 450,000 U.S. adults, concentrating on these five areas of individual well-being, as well as analyzed more than 600 elements of social determinants of health from additional data sources.
The West and Rocky Mountains regions, specifically California and Colorado, appear to be the states with the most cities where residents feel happy. The happiness of residents in the Greater San Francisco area — the winner for a second year in a row — is bolstered by strong performance in several categories, including housing and transportation, food access, and financial stability, according to Sharecare.
Unlike the San Francisco area, financial well-being did not improve between 2019 and 2020 in most metro areas, even in those cities that are among the happiest — due to the negative economic impact the pandemic has had in 2020. All other individual well-being factors, however, including physical, community, social, and purpose, have improved between 2019 to 2020.
Life has somewhat normalized between 2020 and 2021 due to extended restrictions and limits on people’s movements. Millions of people have made their homes their offices for good. These are the best cities to live and work from home this year.
Click here for the 50 happiest cities in the US
50. Raleigh, North Carolina
49. Springfield, Illinois
48. Gainesville, Florida
47. Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina
46. Columbia, Missouri
45. Fargo, North Dakota and Minnesota
44. Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska and Iowa
43. Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida
42. Barnstable Town, Massachusetts
41. Fort Collins, Colorado
40. Bismarck, North Dakota
39. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida
38. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, California
37. Portland-South Portland, Maine
36. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut
35. Vallejo-Fairfield, California
34. Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, California
33. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota and Wisconsin
32. New Haven-Milford, Connecticut
31. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland
30. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California
29. Madison, Wisconsin
28. Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii
27. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin
26. Napa, California
25. Charlottesville, Virginia
24. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California
23. Trenton, New Jersey
22. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California
21. Burlington-South Burlington, Vermont
20. Santa Rosa, California
19. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon and Washington
18. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado
17. San Diego-Carlsbad, California
16. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California
15. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Maryland
14. Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
13. Iowa City, Iowa
12. Salt Lake City, Utah
11. Rochester, Minnesota
10. Boulder, Colorado
9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
8. Ann Arbor, Michigan
7. New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
6. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
5. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut
4. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts and New Hampshire
3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
1. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Hristina Byrnes is the editor of 247Tempo.com, where she handles the site's assignments and editing. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, which she earned in 2012, and she specializes in translating complex health data research into engaging, accessible stories for a general audience.
When she's not poring over the latest data sets or brainstorming story ideas, you can find Hristina watching tennis, playing tennis with her son, or trying to get her daughter into tennis.
