We’ve all heard a lot about “Work/Life Balance” over the last decade and how important this delicate balance is to your juju. Being generally happy has a direct impact on almost all aspects of your life….this includes your career, relationships and based on multiple studies, your longevity. 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. Consider also the fact that while the U.S. is one of the richest countries, it ranks only 15th on the World Happiness Report.
Key Indicators of Happiness.
Wallet Hub recently did an in depth study on emotional well being and overall personal satisfaction in over 180 of the largest cities in the United States. They used 29 key indicators of happiness, ranging from the depression rate to income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day.
According to their results, these are the “happiest” places to live in the US. Freemont CA comes in at #1 in physical and emotional well being with an overall score of 74.16. Lewiston ME did not score high as to the overall happiness score (they are ranked as #133) but came in at #1 in Income and Employment ranking.
According to Wallet Hub’s study, these are the Top 15 happiest cities in America:
- Freemont CA
- Overland Park KS
- San Jose CA
- Madison WI
- Irvine CA
- Honolulu HI
- San Francisco CA
- Pearl City HI
- Columbia MD
- Scottsdale AZ
- Sioux Falls SD
- Huntington Beach CA
- Minneapolis MN
- Garden Grove CA
- San Diego CA
The Top 5 cities with the highest depression rates are:
1. Knoxville, TN
2. Burlington, VT
3. Spokane, WA
4. Huntington, WV
5. Lewiston, ME
For the complete list and a breakdown on rankings, see: https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-to-live/32619
