Oceanside Among Happiest Cities in America: Study

OCEANSIDE, CA — Many people yearn for a return to happier days and feel that the best days are behind them. But according to a new study by WalletHub, where you live has a lot to do with your outlook and level of happiness.

So how happy is Oceanside?

While Oceanside did not crack the top 20 we came in at number 33 out of 180 cities, making Oceanside way above the average happiness level. Oceanside scored the highest in the area of Emotional & Physical Well-Being, while the lowest score was for Income & Employment.

California had 11 cities in the top 20 including 4 out of the 5 top spots. Fremont came in #1 with San Diego just making it into the top 10. Not surprisingly, our big neighbor to the north, Los Angeles came in well below Oceanside at #54. Detroit scored the lowest in the nation at #182. In CA the city with the lowest score was San Bernardino at #153.

By now you may be wondering how they determine a cities happiness ranking. WalletHub drew upon the various findings of positive-psychology research in order to determine which among more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities is home to the happiest people in America. They examined each city based on 30 key indicators of happiness, ranging from the depression rate to the income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day.

Location plays a hand in how bright or gloomy our days are. 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 14th on the World Happiness Report.

Top 20 Happiest Cities in America

1. Fremont, CA
2. Columbia, MD
3. San Francisco, CA
4. San Jose, CA
5. Irvine, CA
6. Madison, WI
7. Seattle, WA
8. Overland Park, KS
9. Huntington Beach, CA
10. San Diego, CA
11. Fargo, ND
12. Minneapolis, MN
13. Bismarck, ND
14. Santa Rosa, CA
15. Santa Clarita, CA
16. Oakland, CA
17. Sioux Falls, SD
18. Glendale, CA
19. Scottsdale, AZ
20. Anaheim, CA

To see which states combine all the necessary components of happiness, check out WalletHub’s report on the Happiest States in America.

Spoiler Alert: Califonia is in the top 5!

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