5 CA Cities Among 15 Happiest In America For 2021: LIST

CALIFORNIA — With International Day of Happiness approaching March 20 and the average American's stress level on the rise for the first time since 2007 because of the pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub decided it was a good time to release its report on the Happiest Cities In America for 2021.

The report brought good news for residents of multiple California cities — especially Fremont, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Irvine and San Francisco, which ranked among the Top 15 Happiest Cities in America, according to WalletHub.

"Location plays a hand in how bright or gloomy our days are," WalletHub's Andrew McCann wrote. "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 18th on the World Happiness Report. But not everywhere in the U.S. experiences a uniform level of happiness. As this study aims to illustrate, moving to a certain city may help you be more content."

In order to determine where in America people are most content with their lives, WalletHub compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities. WalletHub used 31 indicators ranging from depression rate to income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day as metrics to evaluate the cities in three key categories: Emotional and Physical Well-Being; Income and Employment; and Community and Environment.

Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing maximum happiness. WalletHub determined each city's weighted average across all metrics to calculate each city's overall score and used the resulting scores to rank the cities from 1 to 182 in each of the three key categories, with 1 being the highest.

Here are 2021's Top 15 Happiest Cities in America, according to WalletHub.

1. Fremont, California
2. Bismarck, North Dakota
3. Fargo, North Dakota
4. Madison, Wisconsin
5. San Jose, California
6. South Burlington, Vermont
7. Lincoln, Nebraska
8. Columbia, Maryland
9. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
10. Santa Rosa, California
11. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
12. Irvine, California
13. San Francisco, California
14. Pearl City, Hawaii
15. Burlington, Vermont

The city of Fremont came in with the lowest separation and divorce rate in the nation and tied with San Francisco and Oakland for the lowest depression rate. Here is a breakdown of Fremont's happiness rankings:

• No. 1 for Emotional and Physical Well-Being
• No. 46 for Income and Employment
• No. 5 for Community and Environment
• Total Score: 73.66
• Overall Rank: No. 1

The city of San Jose had the fifth-lowest separation and divorce rate in the nation. Here is a breakdown of San Jose's happiness rankings:

• No. 2 for Emotional and Physical Well-Being
• No. 21 for Income and Employment
• No. 75 for Community and Environment
• Total Score: 69.47
• Overall Rank: No. 5

The city of Santa Rosa had an overall rank as the 10th-happiest city in the nation. Here is a breakdown of its happiness rankings:

• No. 7 for Emotional and Physical Well-Being
• No. 32 for Income and Employment
• No. 33 for Community and Environment
• Total Score: 67.59
• Overall Rank: No. 10

The city of Irvine tied with Scottsdale, Arizona, for the third-highest sports participation rate in the nation. Here is a breakdown of its happiness rankings:

• No. 15 for Emotional and Physical Well-Being
• No. 18 for Income and Employment
• No. 31 for Community and Environment
• Total Score: 67.27
• Overall Rank: No. 12

The city of San Francisco tied with Fremont and Oakland for the lowest depression rate in the nation. Here is a breakdown of its happiness rankings:

• No. 3 for Emotional and Physical Well-Being
• No. 15 for Income and Employment
• No. 131 for Community and Environment
• Total Score: 67.11
• Overall Rank: No. 13

Browse the map above for 2021's Happiest Cities In America rankings or go to Wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-to-live.