San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
In happy news, Sunnyvale is the No. 1 city
Apparently living in California — and especially in the Bay Area — makes people happier than most, according to a recent report from financial technology company SmartAsset.
In the 2022 “Where Americans Are Happiest” study, six California cities made the top 10. Four are in Northern California, with the Bay Area city of Sunnyvale topping the list as the “happiest city” in the country.
SmartAsset researchers looked at 164 of the 200 largest cities in the U.S., which had available data, and considered 13 metrics across three categories: personal finance, well-being and quality of life. The metrics were analyzed to determine a score from 0 to 100 for each category, and an overall ranking index score.
The metrics include percent of individuals earning $100,000 or more, cost of living as a percent of income, life expectancy, physical activity rate, percent of adults living below poverty level, and marriage rate. The data came from a number of sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, County Health Rankings and FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting database. The report does not provide reasoning for why these specific metrics were used to measure happiness.
Sunnyvale was No. 1 with the highest percentage (62.5%) of people making $100,000 or more, and the third-lowest share of adults living below the poverty level (about 5%). The city had the fifthhighest marriage rate (56.8%), and was ninthlowest in violent crime in the area, according to the report.
Fremont ranked fourth on the list, scoring high (55.4%) on percentage of individuals who make $100,000 or more, and had low living costs relative to income (32.2%). It ranked second in percentage of adults who live below the poverty-level (4.9%) and in its marriage rate (61.6%).
San Jose, which came in eighth, also has a high percentage of residents making $100,000 or more (43%), and was eighthlowest in its share of adults living below the poverty level (7.4%).
Other California cities in the top 10 were Roseville, near Sacramento, at No. 7, and the Southern California cities of Santa Clarita and Irvine at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively.
Among the top 50, San Francisco came in 14th, followed closely by Hayward at 17th. Santa Rosa was No. 25 and Oakland landed in the 32nd spot.
The least happy city, according to the study, was Birmingham, Ala., which ranked in the bottom five across a number of metrics including personal bankruptcy filings per capita, life expectancy and the percentage of residents living in poverty. Newark, N.J., was the second unhappiest, and Memphis, Tenn., was the third least happy city.
This is just one of many surveys out there that aim to pinpoint levels of happiness. The metrics and parameters used for such analyses can vary widely and are to some degree subjective — and as a result, the rankings might seem a bit all over the map.
For example, The Chronicle did an in-depth analysis looking at “quality of life” metrics and how they compare to affordability for the 25 largest Bay Area cities. Alameda ranked No. 1, followed by San Francisco and Oakland. Sunnyvale came in at No. 13., San Jose at 12 and Fremont at 24.
The analysis was based on 11 measures, including racial and ethnic diversity, number of food retailers, libraries, walk score, access to open space and commute time.
The SmartAsset study isn’t the only one that concluded ultimate happiness can be found in the Bay Area. A study from WalletHub last year scrutinized factors including positive mental health, physical well-being and job satisfaction, and out of the 182 largest U.S. cities analyzed, Fremont came out on top for its high marks for emotional and physical well-being, as well as high incomes.