Royal Oak Makes Movoto's Top 10 List of Happiest Small Cities in America

The Detroit Zoo adds to quality of life in Royal Oak and makes it one of the happiest places in America, the real estate blog Movoto says. (Patch file photo)

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If you’re happy to call Royal Oak home, you’re not alone.

The city is No. 8 on the Movoto Real Estate Blog’s list of the 10 Happiest Small Places in America.

If residents are happy in Royal Oak, they must be giddy in East Lansing, which came in at No. 2 just below State College, PA, on Movoto’s ranking of 391 U.S. cities with populations of 40,000- 61,000.

But No. 8 is nothing to boo-hoo about. Read it and weep, sad-sack cities that didn’t make the list:

“ … besides the Detroit Zoo, the motorcycle rallies, and multitude of yearly festivals, this place also had some pretty happy numbers across the board.

“Royal Oak had low stress factors, one of the better safety ranking on our list for low violent crime, and a decent median income. Furthermore, this place had a decent marriage rank and a decent walkability score, so enjoying a stroll in the lovely small-city atmosphere is an easy feat.

“One of the big standouts here was the education, with 64 percent of the population having at least a bachelor’s degree. This is also one of the few places on our list that wasn’t home to a major college, so there’s no need to freak out about tests and homework in this homey little city.”

About East Lansing, Movoto said:

“ … Just by the numbers, you can see what this place has to be happy about. The second fewest people had an income of under $25,000, the homeownership ranked ninth, almost 69 percent of people were married, and the stress factors were low enough to rank 44th out of 391.

“Going beyond the numbers, this home to Michigan State University offers a variety of things to do. The crime was fairly low, and the city was somewhat walkable, so wandering and taking in a lovely summer day won’t be much of a problem. You could also take in a show from the summer concert series, which lasts from mid June till early August.

“Foodies will probably find themselves overjoyed to call this place home as well. Between divine sushi at Sansu, near perfect burgers at Crunchy’s, and chocolate cheese at the MSU Dairy store, it’s kind of hard to go wrong.”

The full list is available here.