Report: Most Of The 20 Happiest Cities In America Are In California Or Texas, Pittsburgh Ranks In At No. 87
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(CBS Local) -- If your "pursuit of Happiness" isn't going as well as you'd hoped, consider Plano, Texas. It's the happiest city in America, according to new analysis by WalletHub.
The finance website released its annual Happiest Cities in America list on Monday, comparing 182 of the largest U.S. cities based on 31 indicators across three main categories: emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment. The data set ranges from depression rate to income growth rate to average leisure time spent per day.
Plano, about a 30-minute drive north of Dallas came out on top. It has one of the lowest depression rates and the smallest share of adults whose physical, mental or emotional problems affect their personal happiness. Plano also has one of the lowest poverty rates in the country and the lowest unemployment rate.
Irvine, California, south of Los Angeles in Orange County, finished in second place. And Madison, Wisconsin, ranked third.
Eight of the top 20 cities are located in California, including Irvine (#2), Fremont (#4), Huntington Beach (#5), San Jose (#8), San Francisco (#10), Santa Rosa (#13), Glendale (#17) and San Diego (#18).
Three of the top 20 cities are located in Texas, including Plano (#1), Grand Prairie (#7) and Austin (#14).
Pittsburgh isn't high on the list, coming in at No. 87, but we beat our cross-state neighbors, Philadelphia, which comes in at No. 165.
Falling to the bottom of WalletHub's ranking were Charleston, West Virginia, Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit (ranked 182).
Did you know that where you live can affect your #happiness? Find out more here:https://t.co/AZeiYiNDVY pic.twitter.com/3ViSR3mOAx
— WalletHub (@wallethub) March 11, 2019
Other findings of interest include:
- Burlington, Vermont, ranked as the city with the fewest working hours and Anchorage, Alaska, had the most.
- Boston has the lowest number of suicides and in Juneau, Alaska, had the most.
- San Francisco had the highest income growth and Gulfport, Mississippi, had the lowest.
- Fremont, California, had the lowest separation and divorce rate and Detroit had the highest.
- Overland Park, Kansas, had the most adequate sleep rate, while Detroit had the lowest.
- Cheyenne, Wyoming, has the lowest average commute time and New York City has the highest.
To see the full report and the methodology, click here.