10 Happiest U.S. Cities

[justjim]

Using positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023. Three key dimensions were used to base these rankings. 1. Income and employment. 2. Emotional and physical well-being. 3. Community and the environment. The results:
10: Burlington, Vermont
9: South Burlington, Vermont
8: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
7: Columbia, Maryland
6: Irvine, California
5: San Francisco, California
4: Overland Park, Kansas
3: Madison, Wisconsin
2: San Jose, California
1: Fremont, California
Well, how about Florida, Arizona or Texas where large population of retirees have moved? 16: Scottsdale, Az
29: Plano, Tx and 37: Pembroke Pines, FL Cape Coral, FL 52 and Fort Lauderdale, FL 53.
Reliable valid research? Of course not! Amazing what you can find (supposedly as facts) on the internet. However, even more amazing what people will believe.

[ThirdOfFive]

Using positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023. Three key dimensions were used to base these rankings. 1. Income and employment. 2. Emotional and physical well-being. 3. Community and the environment. The results:
10: Burlington, Vermont
9: South Burlington, Vermont
8: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
7: Columbia, Maryland
6: Irvine, California
5: San Francisco, California
4: Overland Park, Kansas
3: Madison, Wisconsin
2: San Jose, California
1: Fremont, California
Well, how about Florida, Arizona or Texas where large population of retirees have moved? 16: Scottsdale, Az
29: Plano, Tx and 37: Pembroke Pines, FL Cape Coral, FL 52 and Fort Lauderdale, FL 53.
Reliable valid research? Of course not! Amazing what you can find (supposedly as facts) on the internet. However, even more amazing what people will believe.
Quite true. And the reason is simple: most people want validation more than information.

[It's Hot There]

Reliable valid research?

Not even close.

182 cities out of 100,000.
So the sample size is .2%. of the population.
Then they select the top ~5%.

Just wait until next week......................there will be a new article.

:ohdear::ohdear::ohdear:

[dewilson58]

Nobody in California is happy.

:22yikes:

[justjim]

Interesting the research looks a bit different when viewed by happiest States in the U.S.
1: Utah
2: Hawaii
3: Maryland
4: Minnesota
5: New Jersey
6: Connecticut
7: California
8: Florida
9: Idaho
10:Nebraska

California finished just north of Florida. Hmm…. I have friends from New Jersey. They were happy to get out. However, that could depend on where you lived in New Jersey. Go figure.

[Papa_lecki]

Using positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023. Three key dimensions were used to base these rankings. 1. Income and employment. 2. Emotional and physical well-being. 3. Community and the environment.

If the #1 criteria is income and employment - that’s not important in a retirement community
Physical wellbeing - again, as we age, our physical well being wont match up to a Comunity with an average age of 35

[Pugchief]

Nobody in California is happy.



Ya, and especially not in San Francisco. Hard to believe those rankings aren't anything more than standard fake news.

[dewilson58]

Ya, and especially not in San Francisco. Hard to believe those rankings aren't anything more than standard fake news.

& isn't California with the most people exiting??.....or second or third.

where Florida has the largest inflow.

:wave:

[New Englander]

Nobody in California is happy.

:22yikes:

The criminals are very happy.

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

& isn't California with the most people exiting??.....or second or third.

where Florida has the largest inflow.

:wave:

And, in my opinion, they’re looking to stop the flow of people out of California. It’s unbelievable they would think fooling people is going to work better than eliminating some of their policies.

[huge-pigeons]

The latest AARP flyer stated Portland Oregon was 1 of their top cities to move to? I used to live there. The city that is all boarded up, had something like 400 days of rioting (which was stated as peaceful with looting, fires, destroying the government buildings), the starting place of the homeless problem (it is legal for the homeless to put up their tent in front of your house on the strip of lawn between the sidewalk and the street and the homeowner can’t do anything about it (we had a friend trying to sell his house with a homeless family in his front yard using his outdoor water and outdoor electric plug)), Portland has the highest unemployed teenagers squatting and begging for money in the downtown because portland has the most teenager programs that give them money.
I dare anybody to walk in the downtown San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, NYC at night.

[dewilson58]

I dare anybody to walk in the downtown San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, NYC at night.

Each were lovely cities................now they are cities without laws.
Would add Seattle to the list.
(been to each of them lately)

[roscoguy]

Using positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023.

What a silly thing to get worked up over. :sad:

Considering the responses to this thread so far, it's not hard to see why The Villages didn't make the list.

[jimdecastro]

Using positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023. Three key dimensions were used to base these rankings. 1. Income and employment. 2. Emotional and physical well-being. 3. Community and the environment. The results:
10: Burlington, Vermont
9: South Burlington, Vermont
8: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
7: Columbia, Maryland
6: Irvine, California
5: San Francisco, California
4: Overland Park, Kansas
3: Madison, Wisconsin
2: San Jose, California
1: Fremont, California
Well, how about Florida, Arizona or Texas where large population of retirees have moved? 16: Scottsdale, Az
29: Plano, Tx and 37: Pembroke Pines, FL Cape Coral, FL 52 and Fort Lauderdale, FL 53.
Reliable valid research? Of course not! Amazing what you can find (supposedly as facts) on the internet. However, even more amazing what people will believe.

All you hear about is that San Francisco is deteriorating and overrun wit homeless.

[dewilson58]

it's not hard to see why The Villages didn't make the list.

& maybe due to the fact the villages is NOT a city.

:loco::loco::loco:

[jerseyjoy]

San Francisco?

[lindaelane]

"People are happy" is one of the most common statistical lies. Happiness is not measurable. For instance, the common report "Finland is the happiest country". If you look into it, they decided this by asking people to rate how happy they were. Nordic countries have more social pressure for people to say they are happy. - You also can't rate happiness by "community" or "the environment" or "emotional and physical well being" because the survey makers decide what constitutes a happy community, happy physical well being (e.g., what can and cannot be done to children) etc. It is just propaganda and it makes me sad to see the number of people who believe whatever any survey says. You'd think we would learn this when election surveys are almost always way off, but we don't learn.

[MidWestIA]

San Francisco, California??? watching tv & internet say how it's turned into a run down slum with crime everybody moving the heck out of there

[Marmaduke]

Nobody in California is happy.

:22yikes:
Poor California! They're all moving to Florida and Texas. I know why. Wish everyone did!

I laughed out loud when I saw (what was once the beautiful city of) San Francisco on the list.

Perhaps this is a Very, VERY Old Article.

[Flyers999]

A few years ago the mayors of the big cities had an online conference that was supposed to address these issues. They came out with a joint statement that said that just because they have a high crime rate, doesn't mean we're not a good place to live. Translation: We are not going to report accurate crime statistics because we don't want to be at the top of a worst crime list. And you thought these mayors didnt care about high crime rates?

[airstreamingypsy]

& maybe due to the fact the villages is NOT a city.

:loco::loco::loco:

I believe over 100,000 people kind of makes it a city. As for your comment on California, people are leaving it because it's so fabulous it costs a fortune to live there..... you get what you pay for. If I could afford to buy a house there, I would in a NY minute.

[airstreamingypsy]

"People are happy" is one of the most common statistical lies. Happiness is not measurable. For instance, the common report "Finland is the happiest country".

I suspect that the reason democratic socialist countries are the top 10 happiest is because the residents aren't one illness away from bankruptcy. They get free education and free health care.... that takes a big load off their minds.

[MrFlorida]

Some people are not happy no matter where they are....

[manaboutown]

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, I think most people are as happy as they choose to be. It is a question of attitude toward life.

[manaboutown]

I suspect that the reason democratic socialist countries are the top 10 happiest is because the residents aren't one illness away from bankruptcy. They get free education and free health care.... that takes a big load off their minds.

Their education and healthcare is not free. They pay for it through heavy taxation which disincentivizes entrepreneurism; thus they are relatively poor countries. Freedom is what produces wealth and happiness. Just a moment... (https://www.kiteandkeymedia.com/videos/what-makes-countries-rich-secret-to-national-wealth-freedom-prosperity/)

[dewilson58]

Their education and healthcare is not free. They pay for it through heavy taxation which disincentivizes entrepreneurism; thus they are relatively poor countries. Freedom is what produces wealth and happiness. Just a moment... (https://www.kiteandkeymedia.com/videos/what-makes-countries-rich-secret-to-national-wealth-freedom-prosperity/)

:BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause:

I was going to post.......................but I doubt there will be comprehension.

:thumbup:

[Djean1981]

I have a hard time believing California is on the list. Unless they were only polling the millionaires..

[dewilson58]

I have a hard time believing California is on the list. Unless they were only polling the millionaires..

Rich people are leaving like crazy.

"Analysis of the approximately 750,000 people who have bid farewell to California over the last three years has revealed that thousands more high-earning, well-educated workers have left the Golden State than have moved in."

"It is not just wealthy residents leaving; businesses are also exiting the state — again due to high tax rates, punitive regulations, high labor, utility and energy costs, among other things."

[drdoug59]

The ones who own homes that are paid for are very, very wealthy

[lpkruege1]

Using positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023. Three key dimensions were used to base these rankings. 1. Income and employment. 2. Emotional and physical well-being. 3. Community and the environment. The results:
10: Burlington, Vermont
9: South Burlington, Vermont
8: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
7: Columbia, Maryland
6: Irvine, California
5: San Francisco, California
4: Overland Park, Kansas
3: Madison, Wisconsin
2: San Jose, California
1: Fremont, California
Well, how about Florida, Arizona or Texas where large population of retirees have moved? 16: Scottsdale, Az
29: Plano, Tx and 37: Pembroke Pines, FL Cape Coral, FL 52 and Fort Lauderdale, FL 53.
Reliable valid research? Of course not! Amazing what you can find (supposedly as facts) on the internet. However, even more amazing what people will believe.

I'm not sure who did the survey, BUT Madison Wisconsin? I'm throwing the BS flag. I can tell you, they are not happy or friendly people. Next, they'll be doing a study and find Milwaukee, Chicago, and San Francisco as being the safest.

[Whitley]

The latest AARP flyer stated Portland Oregon was 1 of their top cities to move to? I used to live there. The city that is all boarded up, had something like 400 days of rioting (which was stated as peaceful with looting, fires, destroying the government buildings), the starting place of the homeless problem (it is legal for the homeless to put up their tent in front of your house on the strip of lawn between the sidewalk and the street and the homeowner can’t do anything about it (we had a friend trying to sell his house with a homeless family in his front yard using his outdoor water and outdoor electric plug)), Portland has the highest unemployed teenagers squatting and begging for money in the downtown because portland has the most teenager programs that give them money.
I dare anybody to walk in the downtown San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, NYC at night.

It almost seems as if someone is using the press to influence people.

[MightyDog]

They get free education and free health care.... that takes a big load off their minds.
Au contraire...in the biggest way possible. They pay heap loads for both of those.

The Scandinavian countries are beautiful and very civilized places (I've been to 3 of them) but, make no mistake, they have breathtaking taxation. Basically, the highest in the Western World...including substantial personal income tax rates, huge VAT taxes (22 to 25%) added to almost everything you buy, personal property taxes and more.

Nothing at all free about those services unless you live on the dole to begin with.

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

San Francisco?

Exactly.

[PersonOfInterest]

You can measure the Crime Rate, you can measure Per Capita income, you can measure population density, But Happiness? I don't think so.

[ithos]

People vote with their feet:

https://www.uhaul.com/Articles/About/U-Haul-Growth-States-Of-2022-Texas-Florida-Top-List-Again-28337/
2022 U-Haul Growth States
1.TEXAS (1)
2.FLORIDA (2)
3.SOUTH CAROLINA (4)
4.NORTH CAROLINA (19)
5.VIRGINIA (31)
6.TENNESSEE (3)
7.ARIZONA (5)
8.GEORGIA (23)
9.OHIO (24)
10.IDAHO (9)


https://www.uhaul.com/Articles/About/U-Haul-Announces-Top-Us-Growth-Cities-Of-2023-30661/
1.PALM BAY-MELBOURNE, FL (4)
2.OCALA, FL (1)
3.CHARLESTON-NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (10)
4.SARASOTA-BRADENTON, FL
5.AUSTIN, TX
6.COLLEGE STATION-BRYAN, TX
7.CHARLOTTE, NC
8.HUNTSVILLE, AL (9)
9.DALLAS, TX
10.MYRTLE BEACH-NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (7)

Those cities in CA are great to live in if you are wealthy.

[roscoguy]

& maybe due to the fact the villages is NOT a city.

:loco::loco::loco:

So that's what kept us off the list! Good catch!! :icon_wink::bowdown:

[airstreamingypsy]

Au contraire...in the biggest way possible. They pay heap loads for both of those.

The Scandinavian countries are beautiful and very civilized places (I've been to 3 of them) but, make no mistake, they have breathtaking taxation. Basically, the highest in the Western World...including substantial personal income tax rates, huge VAT taxes (22 to 25%) added to almost everything you buy, personal property taxes and more.

Nothing at all free about those services unless you live on the dole to begin with.

I know, yet they are the happiest......

[airstreamingypsy]

:BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause:

I was going to post.......................but I doubt there will be comprehension.

:thumbup:

that was helpful..... Mr Helpful. You should change your handle to Mr. Rude Guy

[MidWestIA]

I always wonder HOW did they make a unbiased survey of these 3 things? I was in Burlington, Vermont at Christmas nice town for little shops and some restaurants not much else there except LOTS of lodges for the ski resort. The Von Trapps have a lodge there.

I can't see any difference from Galena Illinois wait Galena has more shops maybe it is #1

[justjim]

San Francisco, California??? watching tv & internet say how it's turned into a run down slum with crime everybody moving the heck out of there

Our last visit to San Francisco was eight years ago. It was a very enjoyable visit. Lots to see! Yes, there were homeless but not any more than any other large city
we have toured. Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York, etc. All of the above have the “best” and the “worse” areas you can see. There are many medium size cities that have the same. Of course, we prefer TV which technically isn’t a city.

[dewilson58]

I can't see any difference from Galena Illinois wait Galena has more shops maybe it is #1

Galena Chocolate Lovers Stroll........................Ummm.

[Lillyangel]

:1rotfl: the most brain deadUsing positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023. Three key dimensions were used to base these rankings. 1. Income and employment. 2. Emotional and physical well-being. 3. Community and the environment. The results:
10: Burlington, Vermont
9: South Burlington, Vermont
8: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
7: Columbia, Maryland
6: Irvine, California
5: San Francisco, California
4: Overland Park, Kansas
3: Madison, Wisconsin
2: San Jose, California
1: Fremont, California
Well, how about Florida, Arizona or Texas where large population of retirees have moved? 16: Scottsdale, Az
29: Plano, Tx and 37: Pembroke Pines, FL Cape Coral, FL 52 and Fort Lauderdale, FL 53.
Reliable valid research? Of course not! Amazing what you can find (supposedly as facts) on the internet. However, even more amazing what people will believe.

[manaboutown]

Au contraire...in the biggest way possible. They pay heap loads for both of those.

The Scandinavian countries are beautiful and very civilized places (I've been to 3 of them) but, make no mistake, they have breathtaking taxation. Basically, the highest in the Western World...including substantial personal income tax rates, huge VAT taxes (22 to 25%) added to almost everything you buy, personal property taxes and more.

Nothing at all free about those services unless you live on the dole to begin with.

I have spent some time in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and talked with locals, distant relatives and friends from the US who live there (Oslo). The North Sea oil pays for a lot of what Norway has. Folks from Denmark and Sweden find Norway hugely expensive and it is. I saw the King driving himself in a BMW 740 but few other large luxury vehicles in Norway. People take trains, buses and ride bikes in these countries. They even have special train cars with bike parking inside. The people I know in Oslo are highly educated and enjoy very high end professional employment, drive an expensive Tesla (tax incentives on EVs there). They only have one car though. They live in a 3,000 sq ft close-in suburban home near the Holmenkollen Ski Museum and Tower, big yard, feels like a nice old fashioned upper middle class US suburb. Restaurant food is ridiculously expensive in Norway so we ate all meals at their house. I spent $200 on snacks and soft drinks for their two children at a park. The taxicab drive to the Oslo airport was $$$$$. I also visited my paternal grandfather's hometown Jonkoping in Sweden. It felt like the US in the 1950s. People were nice. I felt safe, like I do in TV. Denmark is also a nice country and the people quite friendly. In Scandinavia there is incredible social pressure to fit in and not stand out - achieve and/or display above the norm. "The Almost Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia" by Michael Booth is a good read.

I do not find Scandinavians happy and cheerful but a little on the morose side. They consume a LOT of alcohol - I saw large potato fields in Sweden to fuel their distilleries - and have a history of high suicide rates although those are abating.

[Topspinmo]

Using positive psychology research, WalletHub examined 182 US cities with at least two in each state to find the happiest of all in 2023. Three key dimensions were used to base these rankings. 1. Income and employment. 2. Emotional and physical well-being. 3. Community and the environment. The results:
10: Burlington, Vermont
9: South Burlington, Vermont
8: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
7: Columbia, Maryland
6: Irvine, California
5: San Francisco, California
4: Overland Park, Kansas
3: Madison, Wisconsin
2: San Jose, California
1: Fremont, California
Well, how about Florida, Arizona or Texas where large population of retirees have moved? 16: Scottsdale, Az
29: Plano, Tx and 37: Pembroke Pines, FL Cape Coral, FL 52 and Fort Lauderdale, FL 53.
Reliable valid research? Of course not! Amazing what you can find (supposedly as facts) on the internet. However, even more amazing what people will believe.

It’s just somebody’s opinion.

[Topspinmo]

I have a hard time believing California is on the list. Unless they were only polling the millionaires..


Or Hollywood.

[MartyW]

I think the first two posted, which are 6 min apart, shows it’s bogus. (Not to mention a few cities I wouldn’t live in on a bet)

[MightyDog]

I have spent some time in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and talked with locals, distant relatives and friends from the US who live there (Oslo). The North Sea oil pays for a lot of what Norway has. Folks from Denmark and Sweden find Norway hugely expensive and it is. I saw the King driving himself in a BMW 740 but few other large luxury vehicles in Norway. People take trains, buses and ride bikes in these countries. They even have special train cars with bike parking inside. The people I know in Oslo are highly educated and enjoy very high end professional employment, drive an expensive Tesla (tax incentives on EVs there). They only have one car though. They live in a 3,000 sq ft close-in suburban home near the Holmenkollen Ski Museum and Tower, big yard, feels like a nice old fashioned upper middle class US suburb. Restaurant food is ridiculously expensive in Norway so we ate all meals at their house. I spent $200 on snacks and soft drinks for their two children at a park. The taxicab drive to the Oslo airport was $$$$$. I also visited my paternal grandfather's hometown Jonkoping in Sweden. It felt like the US in the 1950s. People were nice. I felt safe, like I do in TV. Denmark is also a nice country and the people quite friendly. In Scandinavia there is incredible social pressure to fit in and not stand out - achieve and/or display above the norm. "The Almost Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia" by Michael Booth is a good read.

I do not find Scandinavians happy and cheerful but a little on the morose side. They consume a LOT of alcohol - I saw large potato fields in Sweden to fuel their distilleries - and have a history of high suicide rates although those are abating.
Thanks for the stories.

What so many don't realize about the Scandinavian systems - which I happened to recognize within three days of being in Denmark (then Sweden and Finland) back in the early 90s - is that their heavy taxation and basic trust in the Govt spending all those funds well and fairly is because they are very homogenous cultures. In just a couple of days of being there, you recognize that. The populations are 95%+ from Scandinavian countries and Germany - so, they share similar values and upbringings. That's why their system would never work in America - we do not have anything close to a homogenous culture of values and trust.

The Scandi countries, like pretty much all others with high citizen tax burdens, tend to control immigration very tightly because their whole system doesn't work if there are more "takers than producers". In the last decade or so, they have learned some hard lessons when they permitted far more than normal immigration numbers and from extremely dissimilar countries where the values are very different plus the new people don't speak the language so have limited work opportunities. Therefore, they live on Govt welfare. It is an experiment that has not gone well and now they have significant problems.

[Calisport]

Disagree with list. Escaped the rat-race in California to Florida like all others. My old city is on the list and no one here would want to visit it again.

[manaboutown]

A few years back a group of business people from New Mexico, The New Mexico Amigos, among whom I have some friends and acquaintances, visited several coastal cities in California. In San Francisco they were briefed not to touch the soles of their footwear when they returned to their hotel rooms from walking the streets as they could get Hepatitis from stepping in human remnants of excrement, other body fluids and waste from the large homeless population among whom many are infected from needles passed around and otherwise. I think they were told to be careful where they stepped in San Diego as well.

Homelessness and Hepatitis A-San Diego County, 2016-2018 - PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31412358/)

Homeless people defecating on LA streets fuels horror hepatitis outbreak, as city faulted | Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/homeless-people-defecating-on-la-streets-fuels-horror-hepatitis-outbreak-as-city-faulted)

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

A few years back a group of business people from New Mexico, The New Mexico Amigos, among whom I have some friends and acquaintances, visited several coastal cities in California. In San Francisco they were briefed not to touch the soles of their footwear when they returned to their hotel rooms from walking the streets as they could get Hepatitis from stepping in human remnants of excrement, other body fluids and waste from the large homeless population among whom many are infected from needles passed around and otherwise. I think they were told to be careful where they stepped in San Diego as well.

Homelessness and Hepatitis A-San Diego County, 2016-2018 - PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31412358/)

Homeless people defecating on LA streets fuels horror hepatitis outbreak, as city faulted | Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/homeless-people-defecating-on-la-streets-fuels-horror-hepatitis-outbreak-as-city-faulted)
Ugh!! My question is if cities could clear away the homeless, like San Francisco did for the Chinese President, (I heard they were shipped down to LA) why can’t they do it all the time?

[MightyDog]

Ugh!! My question is if cities could clear away the homeless, like San Francisco did for the Chinese President, (I heard they were shipped down to LA) why can’t they do it all the time?
The homeless tend to congregate where the best public benefits are (and decent weather) and those are mostly decided by local municipalities.

Newsom is the Cali Governor so, he could engineer that one time thing of paying to move them for awhile but, he has no impact on local municipal governance, how they allocate their money and where the homeless will travel to. Back to San Fran if the public bennies are worth it.

When I lived in NC, it was known amongst many city mayors in the state that Asheville provided some of the most generous homeless benefits so, they often gave bus tickets to Asheville for the homeless in their towns. Guess how much the homeless population in Asheville grew because of that?

Aaah, the Law of Unintended Consequences...it can be an arse-kicker.