Fremont Tops Chart as Happiest City to Live in US

Of the hundreds of cities in the United States, Fremont, California has been ranked as the happiest city in the country to live in. This verdict was based on a report from WalletHub which analyzed a total of 182 cities in the US.

The research featured at least 2 of the largest cities in each state and the study looked at exactly 30 metrics to categorize each city. The metrics evaluated include includes a life-satisfaction index, depression rate, food insecurity rate, poverty rate, income-growth rate, ideal weather, and hate-crime incidents per capita.

With the evaluated data, cities were assessed using three broad categories including emotional and physical well-being, community and environment, and income and employment. With this assessment, Fremont retained its spot as the happiest city to live in the US. The city ranked as number 34th in the country for income and employment but this ranking was bolstered by the number 1 spots for both emotional and physical well-being and community and environment.

The study showed how much of an impact location has on individuals and families and as noted by Dr. Sherry Hamby, distinguished research professor of psychology at the University of the South, where u live can affect your overall well-being.

“Places with more resources – whether these are natural resources like beaches and mountains, cultural resources like museums and theaters, or essential resources like health care and transportation – tend to have happier people than other places,” Hamby said.

The second best city to live in is San Jose, also in California with a lower ranking than Fremont across the board. The city boasts of a score of 2 on emotional and physical well-being, a score of 3 on community and environment, and a score of 64 in terms of income and employment.

Highlighting the Fremont as the Happiest City

Many factors have contributed to the emergence of Fremont and others featured in the top 10 happiest cities ranking. One of these factors as highlighted by University at Albany associate professor of psychology Dev Dalal is the economy of the area.

“One factor in making a location related to increased happiness is the economy of the area. Specifically, it is the amount of economic equality among the residents,” Dalal said. “The more equality there is among the residents, the happier the residents tend to be.”

Besides Fremont, other cities that featured in the top 10 include Madison, Wisconsin, Overland Park, Kansas, San Francisco, and Irvine, both in California. Colombia, Maryland, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, South Burlington, and Burlington, both in Vermont both completed the top 10 list.

When looking at country-level happiness ranking, the United States took the 15th place according to recent ranking, however, the opportunities in each of these profiled cities and more make the country one of the most sought after by immigrants.